Political Quotes

“We have made good progress on the issue of sex trafficking, but it is so related to the issue of opioid abuse. Specifically, as I said, these often go hand in hand. Often, traffickers find people who are addicted. They are vulnerable, they crave the drug, and the trafficker can provide it. But in my home State of Ohio, I have met with survivors, and many times we have found that they find vulnerable people who are not addicted but then make them addicted so they become dependent on the trafficker. This is an issue that relates to so many things, doesn't it? It relates to our workplace because people who are addicted to opioids are not coming into the workforce. One reason we have such high levels of unemployment--people are outside the workforce altogether, not showing up on the unemployment numbers because they aren't even looking for work. The labor force participation rate, as economists call it, is so low right now largely, in my view, because of this opioid issue. Our courts are jammed, our jails are jammed, and our hospitals and emergency rooms are jammed. We have to do more to get at this issue for so many reasons. The driving force in my home State of Ohio and around the country now is this synthetic form of heroin or opioids called fentanyl. It is 50 times more powerful than heroin. There are other drugs--carfentanil is an example--that are even more powerful.…”