AG Jeff Sessions addresses US opioid epidemic in Cleveland

CLEVELAND (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Department of Justice and law enforcement are determined to loosen the opioid epidemic's "grip of death and destruction" on the nation.

Sessions outlined three recent enforcement actions today during an appearance in Cleveland. They include the country's first-ever civil order that bars two Ohio doctors from prescribing drugs; the indictment of two Chinese nationals accused of shipping powerful synthetic opioids across the globe; and a recent operation to shut down the country's biggest "dark net" distributor of drugs.

The attorney general says efforts to reduce the number of opioid prescriptions by one-third are taking root and noted the possible leveling of fatal overdoses after a record number of deaths last year.

Ohio has been one of the opioid epidemic's hardest-hit states.