Despite drop in drug deaths, DeWine says Ohio still faces addiction crisis – News – The Columbus Dispatch

Drug overdose deaths have declined in many parts of the state, but Gov. Mike DeWine cautions that an addiction crisis persists in Ohio.

“We’re certainly encouraged by seeing the number of deaths down,” DeWine said Tuesday.

“The only reason deaths have remained high the last several years is because of fentanyl. Fentanyl is now, in some areas, it’s less. That’s the good news. The bad news is you’re moving into meth and other substances. You’ve got to look at this as addiction, you can’t look at it as an opioid problem.”

Speaking to members of the Ohio Association of Behavioral Health Authorities at the Statehouse, DeWine credited those on the front lines for the drop in drug deaths and pledged continued state support of their efforts, calling assistance to the mentally ill and addicted one of his administration’s top priorities.

Deaths are down “because we have so many good things going on at the local level, so much naloxone being used, so (many) new programs, law enforcement getting people into treatment, a lot of good things are going on,” DeWine said.

“But as drug epidemics always do, they morph into something else.”

The Dispatch reported Sunday that Ohio appears to have turned the corner on drug deaths.

Overdose deaths dropped 21.4 percent — the biggest decline in the nation — from July 2017 through June 2018, according to preliminary data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State and county data shows the same trend. Ohio Department of Health preliminary data shows a 34 percent decline from January to June 2018, from the same six months in 2017, down to 1,812 overdose deaths statewide. And records for all of 2018 from several large counties show decreases approaching 50 percent — although Franklin County overdose deaths through August were unchanged from 2017.

If the trend holds, drug overdose deaths across Ohio will drop for the first time since 2009.

DeWine’s meeting with local behavioral health officials was part of his RecoveryOhio Initiative to improve mental health and addiction services. The 16-member advisory council will make recommendations to the governor by March 8, a week before DeWine must submit his first state budget proposal to lawmakers.

“We’ve set a pretty clear pathway of what we think is important. When the budget comes out, you’re not going to have too many surprises,” DeWine said.

“There is going to be a real focus on children, a real focus on the addiction problem, a real focus on the mental health problem.”

Local officials on Tuesday urged DeWine to focus on education and drug prevention, offering services when and where they are needed and not requiring people to come and get them, recovery housing, and preserving Medicaid expansion, which covers the bulk of treatment costs. They also asked for flexibility to direct state funds where they are needed, noting that different communities have different needs.

Cheri Walter, chief executive officer of the behavioral health association, said local officials mostly want flexibility because their efforts are continually evolving.

The decline in drug deaths is “great news but we don’t want to let our foot off the gas. What we’re seeing is a morphing of moving from just heroin and prescription drugs to crystal meth. We’re actually seeing more cocaine and the problem is people are dying from those drugs because they’re being cut with fentanyl so we don’t want to stop yet,” Walter said.

Deanna Brant, executive director of the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, said preliminary data show overdose deaths in her counties were down slightly in 2018.

“In 2017, we saw an increase in cocaine and fentanyl deaths as opposed to heroin and fentanyl deaths, and we also saw an increase in multi-drug overdoses, those with multiple drugs in their system as compared to one or two,” she said.

In response, Brant said her focus is to “educate, educate, educate. Educate providers, law enforcement, people in recovery about additional risks related to their drug supply.”

ccandisky@dispatch.com

@ccandisky