Painkiller Overdoses Hit Ohio Hard

Fatal overdoses of prescription drugs are having a devastating effect in Ohio, The New York Times reports. In the last decade, fatal overdoses have more than quadrupled and are now more common than car crashes as a cause of accidental death in the state. Last month Ohio Governor John R. Kasich announced the state will spend $36 million in new funding to fight prescription drug abuse.

Portsmouth, Ohio, a town with some of the highest rates of prescription drug overdoses in the state, is seeing an increase in younger overdose victims. Chief of Police, Charles Horner, told the newspaper that the town is now raising third and fourth generations of people who abuse prescription drugs. The article notes that many young people get the drugs indirectly from dealers and others who have access to prescriptions.