OSU study: Opioid epidemic costs Ohio up to $8.8 billion a year

A new Ohio State study found that the opioid epidemic costs Ohio between $6.6 billion to $8.8 billion a year — about the same amount the state spends annually on K-12 education (Source: ”Price tag of Ohio’s opioid epidemic: Up to $8.8 billion a year,” Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 26, 2017).

According to the OSU report that was released Wednesday, the state has had success cracking down on opioid prescriptions. However, many addicts have switched to street drugs such as heroin, making expanded access to treatment the more pressing need.

And though treatment needs have skyrocketed, the state has not responded: It has the capacity to treat only 20 percent to 40 percent of the 92,000 to 170,000 Ohioans abusing or addicted to opioids. The shortage is especially acute in rural areas hit hardest by the drug crisis.

Ohio is among the nation’s leaders in opioid-related overdose deaths, with a record 4,050 fatalities in 2016, a 33 percent increase from 2015.