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Funds awarded for addiction treatment
Alcohol, drug addiction By the numbers
Ohio’s death rate due to unintentional drug poisoning increased more than 300 percent from 1999 to 2007, and is the leading cause of injury death in the state. Alcohol and drug addiction programs in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties will receive shares of $5 million to be dispersed to all counties in Ohio.
Columbiana County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services: $34,880.
Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Board: $115,277.
Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Network: $70,077. Also, because Trumbull is one of 20 counties with the highest rates of unintentional prescription-drug deaths, it will receive an additional $29,120.
Sources: Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addition Services
COLUMBUS
Alcohol- and drug-addiction programs in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties will receive more than $200,000 in additional state funding for the treatment of prescription-drug and opiate abuse.
The counties will each receive a portion of $5 million being distributed statewide to all county alcohol- and drug-addiction boards by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
The $5 million, available as a result of increased federal reimbursement for Medi-caid, will be released to counties on a monthly basis, officials said.
The extra money, announced by Gov. Ted Strickland on Dec. 3, was approved by the state Controlling Board on Monday.
“In Ohio, prescription-drug abuse is becoming entrenched in communities both large and small,” said Angela C. Dawson, ODADAS director.
About $4.5 million will be distributed to all counties based on the regular per capita allocation formula.
An additional $547,860 will be distributed to 20 counties with the highest rates of unintentional prescription-drug deaths.
Under the regular dispersing formula, Columbiana County’s Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services will receive $34,880; the Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Board will receive $115,277; and Trumbull County Lifelines Mental Health and Recovery Network will receive $70,077.
Because Trumbull is one of the counties with the highest rates of unintentional prescription-drug deaths, however, it will receive an additional $29,120.
The funding allocation follows the completion of work by the Ohio Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force, which was formed by Strickland in April.
The task force issued its report and recommendations to the governor and state Legislature on Oct. 1.
Prescription-drug abuse has been identified as a rising public-health problem on the national level and has reached epidemic proportions in Ohio, officials said.
Ohio’s death rate due to unintentional drug poisoning increased more than 300 percent from 1999 to 2007 and is the leading cause of injury death in Ohio.
An average of four Ohioans die each day from an unintentional drug overdose, said Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, director of the Ohio Department of Health and task-force vice chairman.