DeWine among those meeting with DEA

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COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office is part of a multistate group that met with top leaders from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

The group convened to share ideas and data in the fight against the overuse of prescription opioids.  The states and the DEA discussed opportunities for sharing data relating to drug manufacturers and distributors and how the state attorneys general and the DEA could work together to combat the opioid crisis.  Jonathan Blanton, Chief of the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section, was Ohio’s representative.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued five of the nation’s leading drug manufacturers in May on behalf of the state of Ohio.  This week, the Attorney General released a 12-point emergency plan called “Recovery Ohio” and gave the drug manufacturers and distributors 30 days to come forward and begin serious discussions about paying their fair share.

“We have to fight the opioid epidemic with all of the creativity and urgency we can.  We are in a public-health crisis that necessitates a response that matches the depth of this emergency,” said Attorney General Mike DeWine.  “I am pleased that the DEA is working with the state attorneys general to combat this crisis and ensure companies who violate the law are held accountable.”

“The men and women of DEA are working alongside various states in our shared fight against those who have helped to facilitate our nations opioid epidemic,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson.  “We have a responsibility to help the state attorneys general, and the DEA is working hard every day to ensure that manufacturers and distributors are operating within the law and are accountable for their actions.”