Ohio House bill calls for cabinet-level drug policy post

Ohio Rep. Richard Brown, D-Canal Winchester, on Thursday unveiled a bill that would create a cabinet-level post to coordinate drug policy in Ohio (Source: “Ohio drug policy office proposed,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 30, 2018).

More than 4,900 Ohioans between January 2017 and January 2018 died from  drug overdoses. That figure has risen rapidly in recent years and is expected to rise further when the Ohio Department of Health releases statistics for all of 2017.

Brown’s bill, which he plans to introduce in November after the election, was developed in collaboration with the bipartisan Ohio Mayor’s Alliance. The office would be tasked with coordinating drug-related efforts across state and local agencies, serve as an information clearinghouse and it would seek funding for the fight from private and public sources.