Political Quotes

“I wish to speak tonight about the opioid crisis that has gripped my State of Ohio and our country and talk about some lessons learned. There was an article in the New York Times that some might have seen on Sunday about a town in Ohio--Dayton, OH--and the progress they have made in combating this opioid crisis, including a reduction in overdose deaths, which is really significant. Dayton is a city that has had some of the highest overdose death rates in our entire State of Ohio, and Ohio is No. 3 or No. 4 in the country in terms of overdose deaths. They have seen in Dayton, OH, over the last year, about a 50-percent decrease in overdose deaths. It is still totally unacceptable. Unfortunately, there are still hundreds of people who are dying every year. But from this high-water mark, progress has been made. Why is that happening? Well, I am going to talk a little bit about that tonight and talk about some of the things that are actually working back in our communities and perhaps give us a little sense of optimism about what might be able to happen over the next couple of years as we try to turn the tide on this epidemic. For a little context, last year we had the highest rate of overdose deaths in the history of our country. Some 72,000 Americans--72,000-- lost their lives to overdoses from drugs. In my State of Ohio, that number is particularly high, to the point that it is the No. 1 cause of death now in our State.…”