© 2024 WYSO
Our Community. Our Nation. Our World.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Attorney General Forms Special Unit To Deal With Heroin Epidemic

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has formed a unit of his office to deal with what he says is a heroin epidemic in Ohio.

“Frankly we have to fight this epidemic at the grass roots level, community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, village by village, township by township, city by city," says DeWine.  "Communities have to get mad and simply say enough is enough. New information our office has recently collected suggests that, at a minimum, eleven people die each week in Ohio because of heroin. "

DeWine says the new heroin unit in his office will provide investigators, lawyers, drug abuse specialist and others who will be helpful to communities that are trying to fight the problem. He says the decision to create the specialized unit was made after his office discovered a 107% increase in heroin deaths among more than half of the state’s counties over the past twelve months.