Political Quotes

“talking about the opioid issue, sadly, this is gripping my State of Ohio in a way that has caused us to have more deaths by opioids than any other cause of death. But it is not just Ohio; it is an epidemic because now, nationally, it is the No. 1 cause of accidental death, and for Americans under 50, it is the No. 1 cause of death, period. This makes it the worst drug epidemic we have faced in this country--the worst since, we will recall, back in the 1980s and 1990s when we were very concerned about cocaine and other drugs. This has become the worst drug epidemic we have ever faced. We had a tele-townhall meeting this week where I called several thousand Ohioans. We had about 20,000 people on the call at any one time. During that call, we had a survey question. Among other questions, it asked about opioids, and it asked a very simple question: Do you know someone who has been personally affected? Have you been or do you know someone who has been personally affected by this opioid epidemic? The numbers were shocking this week. Typically, over half of the callers say yes. That is how bad it is in Ohio. This week, it was 66 percent--two-thirds of the callers. Thousands of people in Ohio reported back from a tele-townhall. So it is not a self-selected group; it is people who have called in to talk about various issues, and 66 percent said they know someone who has been directly affected by this opioid addiction issue. It has unfolded in three waves.…”