As Senator Portman launches a new ad campaign this week focused on his long-fought work to address the opioid epidemic, it’s worth reviewing Strickland’s embarrassing record on this issue.
As Governor, Retread Ted Strickland faced “hordes of angry activists” when he wrote, fought for, and implemented a budget that cut drug addiction services by nearly 30 percent.
But that’s not all –
As a member of Congress, Strickland voted against legislation that included more than $1 billion in substance abuse and mental health funding. This comprehensive bill also included hundreds of millions of dollars targeted at stopping drug trafficking, an anti-drug media campaign, and drug-free communities support.
Also unlike Strickland, Portman’s effort has received bipartisan support. In a recent story Portman’s work was lauded by both sides of the aisle, “No elected official interviewed for this story, Republican or Democrat, questioned Portman’s sincerity when it comes to tackling opioid abuse. Nor did they question whether the opioid epidemic is a problem that needs addressing now.”
You can read more from the Morning Consult, here:
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On Tuesday, the Portman campaign released its first television ads. All three are centered on Portman’s work to address the opioid epidemic, touting his decades-long record on the issue.
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It takes at least five minutes for [Portman] to rattle through his record on opioids and other drug policies, which he does, unprompted, at the onset of the interview. The bullet points traverse through his time representing southern Ohio in the House in the 1990s to a recent conversation he had with pharmacy students at a constituent coffee meeting.
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Portman’s passion on the issue dates back to 1993, when one of his constituents visited him. Her son had just died from a drug overdose. At the time, drug overdoses were uncommon, but Portman still thought he had some answers about drug interdiction and eradication. They were not the answers she was looking for.
“It was very emotional. Here’s a mom who had just lost her son, and it was embarrassing for me that I didn’t have a better answer for her,” he said. “Her point of view was, ‘Can’t you do something to help me in my community?’”
From that moment, Portman became convinced of the power of community coalitions. He founded the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati (now PreventionFIRST!). He served as the chairman of the board while simultaneously serving in the House.
As time went on, Portman said he began noticing an uptick in prescription drug abuse. Cincinnati began seeing an influx of OxyContin. More recently, heroin use has surged, often by people who have previously abused prescription drugs.
When he was elected to the Senate in 2010, he quickly got to work on the issue. In 2012, he introduced two drug abuse bills. One added synthetic drugs to the Controlled Substance Act. The second created a system allowing states to share information about prescription drug monitoring programs across states lines. They both became law.