COLUMBUS (WJER) - The state senate’s decision to remove $36-million dollars in drug abuse prevention funding from the governor’s budget has drawn an objection from the Tuscarawas County Anti-Drug Coalition. Coalition Coordinator Jodi Salvo says about $18 million would have gone to K-12 prevention efforts, which she says is crucial to battling the state’s addiction epidemic.

“We absolutely need dollars for treatment and in recovery, but now that we’re starting to get better grips on some of that, we really have to invest in prevention for our youth to help them have the education and the skills to make healthy, drug-free choices,” she says. “That’s the only way we’re going to truly have an impact on the addiction epidemic in Ohio.”

Salvo says without the additional funds, the state will have no line item budget for prevention efforts.

“Right now, we have limited substance use prevention education in our Tuscarawas County schools. A hundred percent of our dollars only really reaches fourth and fifth grade in most districts,” she says. “What we do know from prevention is if we used evidence-based programming that are adminstered by prevention specialists, we have very good outcomes.”

Salvo says she has met with state Representative Brett Hillyer and other state officials to urge them to keep funding in the budget for drug abuse prevention. Meanwhile, Governor Mike DeWine has signed off on legislation to keep the state government running after lawmakers failed to approve the spending bill before Sunday’s deadline.  

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