Democratic candidate for Ohio Attorney General David Pepper came to Athens Monday morning to slam DeWine’s handling of statewide opiate addiction.
David Pepper, Democratic candidate for Ohio attorney general, doled out criticism for incumbent Mike DeWine in Athens yesterday morning during a meeting with local democrats, following his endorsement by the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio.
The event, which drew a crowd of roughly 18 people, was geared toward Pepper’s stance on DeWine’s handling of Ohio’s statewide heroin crisis. Democratic State Rep. Debbie Phillips and Athens County Interim Replacement Sheriff Rodney Smith were in attendance.
Pepper slammed DeWine, saying that heroin deaths across the state have grown while DeWine’s strategies have remained the same. The rise in heroin deaths has been especially steep in the past few years, he added.
“Heroin is cheaper, and it’s easier to get,” Smith said.
Smith mentioned that after recent law enforcement crackdowns on prescription drug abuse, specifically related to opiate “pill mills,” it was evident that heroin would follow as a local issue.
Pepper said that DeWine has done an inadequate job of tracking heroin-related deaths, employing what he considers to be “outdated methods.”x
“The folks sending out the heroin all over this state know where they’re sending; they’re using 2014 methods, and we’re back in the 1980s, making phone calls to coroners and using old data to determine we have a heroin crisis,” Pepper said.
Pepper also blamed DeWine for failing to provide a comprehensive solution to opiate addiction, accusing the state of cutting community-level funding for drug addiction prevention and treatment programs.
Pepper referenced the state’s budget cuts for the D.A.R.E prevention program, which teaches school-aged children to avoid addiction to drugs and alcohol. He charged that these cuts occurred as the opiate addiction crisis reached its height, negatively affecting communities like Athens.
“Every time the locals are trying to make a difference, the state talks about this as a crisis — but their actions actually go the other direction,” Pepper said.
He commended the efforts of local entities to spur innovative solutions to drug addiction despite budget cuts in recent years.
Pepper mentioned Lucas County’s use of a “recovery unit,” where designated officers take time to become familiar with the families of those who are hospitalized for overdosing on heroin.
According to DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney, however, fewer law enforcement agencies are asking to have D.A.R.E. officers funded through state grant programs.
Tierney questioned Pepper’s knowledge of what roles the Attorney General’s office performs.
“There has to be a multi-faceted approach, not one that just one office can cure,” Tierney said.
Nj342914@ohio.edu
