Opioids

"Since the outset of the epidemic, opioids had affected mostly poor, working-class white families in Appalachia," said Bryan Hubbard of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. "But data revealed that in 2021, the impact of opioids began to reach well beyond Appalachia to urban, poor and working-class Black families."

The flow of drugs hasn't slowed, and Cincinnati and Dayton remain key locations for dealers, Ken Parker says.

A last minute addition to the Ohio Senate's two-year state budget included a provision to allow the OneOhio Recovery Foundation — which is in charge of giving out $1.1 billion of the state's opioid settlement money — to bypass public meetings rules.

As money is funneled to states, opioid councils wield significant power in determining how it gets spent. They face concerns about conflicts of interest and lack of representation by affected groups.

The Ohio Turnpike will provide the nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses at 14 service plazas along the 241-mile toll road. Turnpike foremen and assistant foremen will also carry kits in their maintenance vehicles.

Ohio researchers are trying to determine who is at risk for opioid addiction and why.

No federal employee holds the title of opioid crisis accountability coordinator. The Office of National Drug Control Policy has not released public statements about the settlements in over a year. And the settlement funds are mentioned just twice in a 150-page national strategy to reduce drug trafficking and overdose deaths.

The DEA has announced fentanyl combined with xylazine as an emerging drug threat.

Two wings newly converted from office and storage space at the Justice Center have 92 beds dedicated to clinical treatment of addiction and mental health issues.

Emergent BioSolutions, the drug company that produces Narcan, said it anticipates it will be on store shelves by late summer.