Cordray details opioids plan in Dayton campaign stop

Rich Cordray would declare the opioid crisis a state of emergency, expand funding for drug abuse treatment and prevention, and work to keep Republicans from rolling back Medicaid expansion if elected governor, the Democratic primary candidate announced this week.

Cordray detailed his plan in a meeting Tuesday in Dayton with the group Families of Addicts and Mayor Nan Whaley.

“I think there’s been neglect and there’s been bad policies,” Cordray said. “I think Mike DeWine, our attorney general, has had years to address this issue and failed to do so.”

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“People need to be held accountable for the fact that they weren’t recognizing the problem when it mushroomed,” he said.

Cordray said overdose deaths under DeWine, the Republican frontrunner, more than tripled during his tenure. Cordray’s campaign cited Ohio Department of Health data showing overdose deaths jumping from 1,163 deaths in 2011 to nearly 3,500 in 2016.

The same data show overdose deaths increased 25 percent under Cordray’s short attorney general stint, from 783 deaths in 2009 to 980 deaths in 2010. Cordray became attorney general in 2009 after Marc Dann resigned mid-term. Cordray left office in January 2011 after he lost re-election to DeWine.

“During the outbreak of the opioid epidemic all over southern Ohio from 2006-2010, (Cordray) did and said nothing,” said Ryan Stubenrauch, DeWine’s spokesman, making an assertion that includes time before Cordray became attorney general. He said DeWine “aggressively responded” by shutting down pill mills, arresting doctors and drug traffickers, and by suing drug companies.

On Medicaid, Stubenrauch said DeWine believes “medicaid expansion as currently constructed is unsustainable” and would explore “restructuring the program with flexibility from the Trump Administration or from Congress.”

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Others running for governor have also announced plans.

State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, has said he would direct 10 percent of Ohio’s emergency fund toward paying for mental health and addiction services, among other initiatives.

“Democrats can’t beat John Kasich’s ‘Start Talking’ opioid plan with our version of ‘Start Talking,’” Schiavoni said through a spokeswoman. “Ohio’s opioid crisis has devastated families across the state and killed over 17,000 of our residents. We need a detailed, well researched plan that we could implement tomorrow and start saving lives.”

Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill, a Democrat, has advocated for directing tax revenue on legalized marijuana toward treatment facilities.

Through a spokesperson, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Cleveland, this week told the Columbus Dispatch has proposed "affordable, accessible health care services, a sensible drug enforcement policy, legalization of cannabis for pain management, treatment and rehabilitation rather than incarceration," and other initiatives.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, another Republican running for governor, said through a spokesman she plans to end the “unsustainable Medicaid expansion” enacted by Gov. John Kasich, her former running mate, and replace it with “market-based health care principles.”

“To combat the epidemic we must make use of all the tools available to us, including law enforcement, treatment, education, faith initiatives, public service campaigns, and border interdiction,” Taylor said.

The primary election will be held May 8.

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The Columbus Dispatch contributed reporting.

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