43
Attorney General DeWine meets with clergy
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
About 25 clergy members and concerned citizens sounded off on issues Tuesday with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
Tracey Winbush, a radio personality on WSOM, arranged the session at Mount Gilead Baptist Church banquet hall, 2823 Hillman St., to inform participants about “how to connect” with the attorney general’s office.
Winbush said she plans to arrange meetings with various branches of state government to help people get a better understanding of what these offices do and how they can help locally.
DeWine offered an overview of what his office does and how it can assist in the Mahoning Valley. There is an office in Mahoning County at 20 W. Federal Plaza; and people can access information on specific topics on the website, www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov. He said his office is investigative in nature and also operates the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
DeWine discussed how drugs are a statewide problem, and meeting participants agreed. “There is an epidemic of heroin,” he said, adding that there are five to seven deaths of Ohioans daily because of use of heroin and pain medications.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this,” he said, noting that “consumption and production” fuel drug use. “We need to do a better job of treatment, prevention and education.”
DeWine said he has observed that “communities that make the most progress have a grass-roots effort.” He said the AG’s office set up a special heroin unit and offers resource support to local police departments.
Keith Vukasinovich, a managing partner with Cornerstone, a holistic drug-treatment program in the Dayton-Springfield area that is opening a site in Warren, said he felt the drug problem begins with doctors overprescribing pain medications that lead to addiction. He offered a personal story, noting his father, who once was a deacon at Mount Gilead, developed an addiction to pain medication. “I lost my father to opiates,” he said. He asked what was being done to prosecute doctors who contribute to the drug problem.
DeWine responded that the state has “made some progress” in that realm by “taking away the licenses of 70 doctors and prosecuting some.”
One audience participant noted some “doctors are legalized drug dealers,” and a retired corrections officer said many incarcerated young people addicted to heroin started with prescription pain medications.
Another person brought up medicinal marijuana. DeWine said it was a “delicate dance” to have a law that would allow the medical use and prevent recreational use.
Pastor Al Yanno of Metro Assembly said any effort to address the widespread drug problem “must be a collaboration of agencies.” He is involved in Community Initiative to Reduce Violence and NOW Youngstown.
The Rev. Willie Peterson said, “We need to find out what is working and try that. We have many resources but don’t have the ‘come together.’” He is executive director of the Center for Community Empowerment, whose programs help disadvantaged families become self-sufficient and involve youths in positive outlets. The center also works with those re-entering society.
DeWine said education and laws can do only so much, and faith-based organizations must be involved in education and activities that help prevent drug use.