COLUMBUS – Educators from across Ohio gathered Tuesday to discuss an issue much on the minds of officials
around the state: heroin.
The event, entitled "Protecting Ohio’s Families: Start Talking!", was a summit held by the
Alliance for High Quality Education. Featuring remarks by Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike
DeWine, the summit was held at Worthington-Kilbourne High School.
"You can have heroin delivered to your home more quickly and cheaply than a $10 pizza," said
Tom Hosler, superintendent of Perrysburg schools, recalling remarks made by DeWine.
"That’s startling."
Nearly 40 Alliance-member school districts took part in the event, which was aimed at educating school
leaders about the scope of the heroin problem, how to engage their communities, and best practices for
prevention.
"Certainly it was a pretty sobering message, the increase that we’re seeing in heroin-related
deaths," said Hosler.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn, who accompanied Hosler, praised Kasich and DeWine for their focus on
the issue, which he said is a problem nationwide.
"It’s affecting all communities, all socioeconomic levels. There’s really no facet that’s not
affected by heroin," he said.
Heroin use has reached what some have termed epidemic proportions in the state: in 2012, the most recent
statistics available, 680 people died of heroin overdoses in Ohio, up from 426 the previous year. The
Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification’s Chemistry Unit saw 4,908 cases involving heroin in
2013, more than double the number seen in 2008.
The increase is largely ascribed to prescription drug addicts who have discovered a cheaper, better and
more easily obtainable high with heroin as prescription drugs become scarcer and more expensive.
Wood County has not been immune to heroin-related issues, including overdoses and related crimes like
thefts and burglaries. Authorities have seen overdoses and incidents involving heroin jump sharply
across the county in recent years, prompting more focused efforts at policing and treatment.
A two-part Sentinel-Tribune series on the impact of heroin in Wood County is forthcoming.
The summit, Wasylyshyn said, reinforced that heroin is in "all parts of our communities. It’s not
(just) in the poor areas, urban areas, it’s everywhere."
"What I came away with today is that the people who are responsible for pushing this particular
drug, they’re not targeting places where kids don’t have money, or places where people are carrying
guns. But they are targeting places where kids have money and resources, and that’s communities like
Perrysburg or Anthony Wayne and others similar to that," said Hosler.
"That’s one of those things they talked about, was it was really pushing into those areas, and
that’s by design."
He said that he isn’t aware of a problem with heroin in the Perrysburg schools, but "we do know that
in Wood County we’ve seen some incidents happen," and "certainly there are connections to
Perrysburg. People are aware of it, or their friends."
As sobering as the statistics for heroin are, Wasylyshyn did note that significantly more youths die from
alcohol-related deaths, "than from all other drugs combined," and that focus should be
maintained on that issue as well.