Ohio awarded $55.8 million to help combat opioid epidemic

Posted: Sep 4, 2019 / 12:01 PM EDT / Updated: Sep 4, 2019 / 12:02 PM EDT

FILE – In this March 24, 2016 photo, a nurse for eastern Indiana’s Fayette County holds one of the syringes provided to intravenous drug users taking part in the county’s state-approved needle exchange program at the county courthouse in Connersville, Ind. The effort is in response to a hepatitis C outbreak among IV drug users. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WDTN) – The State of Ohio was awarded $55.8 million in its battle against the opioid epidemic, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said.

The money will go towards a program called the State Opioid Response Grant that helps states increase access to nalaxone and support access to long-term addiction treatment and recovery services.

Sen. Portman announced that the money was awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services, which overall awarded $1.8 billion in grants to help states fight the epidemic.

This is good news for Ohio, and these new funds will help our efforts to combat the opioid epidemic that continues to grip our state. My visits to treatment and recovery facilities around the state have again highlighted the need for additional resources to support education, treatment and recovery programs that work. I was proud to help secure opioid funding in the initial CURES law and fight for more resources as part of the SOR grants. I’m pleased these additional resources are benefiting our state. This is another positive step forward, but we must do more, and that includes combating the resurgence of meth and cocaine in Ohio. My new legislation, the Combating Meth & Cocaine Act, will give states like Ohio more flexibility to use SOR grant funding to address the resurgence of meth and cocaine and I’m optimistic that we can get this done.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)

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