CINCINNATI — Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday morning that nearly three dozen drug task forces in the state will receive state support to help prevent substance abuse.

One local drug task force shares how critical this funding is.

What You Need To Know

  • $2.2 million in funding will go towards 34 drug task forces across the state 

  • Hamilton County is receiving the most with nearly $190,000

  • While statewide unintentional overdose deaths have decreased the last two years, there is still more work to be done

Drug task forces across the state have been cracking down on drug rings and dealers. In Hamilton County, the Heroine Coalition Task Force uses agencies around the state to help, which is why the RecoveryOhio Funding is so crucial.

“That funding allows us to partially pay or offset salaries for those state agencies and local agencies," Michael Davenport, the commander for the Hamilton County Heroine Task Force, said. "So, without that, I don’t know that we would exist. In Hamilton County, even though overdose deaths are trending down, we had over 270 last year.”

While overdose deaths across the state are trending down, they are still a major concern.

In 2023, there were 4,452 unintentional drug overdose deaths. That was a 9% decrease from 2022. From 2021 to 2022 there was a 5% decrease in drug overdose deaths. In 2023, counties with the most overdose deaths were our largest metro areas:  Franklin with 701, Cuyahoga with 550 and Hamilton with 310.

In Hamilton County, which got the most amount of funding from these grants with nearly $190,000. Officials say it’s truly making a difference.

“We’re trying to reach people not only who non-fatally overdosed, but we’re also trying to rack those people down who are supplying drugs that are killing our community members," Davenport said. "Without this funding, we’re not able to do that.”