Received this e-mail today from former Rep. Betty Sutton’s (D. OH) gubernatorial campaign:
Betty Sutton (D. OH)
Today, President Trump's fix for the opioid crisis fell short. I wrote to you about this last week, and while I’m glad the Trump administration is saying something about it, it is too little and a lot late. This emergency declaration DOES NOT include new funding, and yet we need all the help we can get to address it.
This is our hurricane. As Governor, I will immediately declare a state of emergency in Ohio so we can effectively coordinate resources and efforts to battle this crisis in the near term and in the long run.
According to a recent study by The Ohio State University, our state doesn’t have the capacity to treat even half of the population affected by the opioid crisis—and that’s in the best-case scenario. We haven’t done nearly enough to catch up to the problem.
It's alarming that President Trump and our own Attorney General Mike DeWine still can’t speak to a real plan to confront this crisis head on. What are they waiting for?
This scourge on our communities and towns has been been growing unchecked for a long time and it has taken our own Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine too long to respond. He is now suing the pharmaceutical companies for their role, and I think that we should, but it is too little and a lot late.
My plan will be an all-hands-on-deck attack which will include focusing on prevention and treatment, holding drug companies accountable, aggressively punishing dealers, education, good jobs and opportunities, and effective treatment and rehabilitation.
