Brown Announces New Investment to Combat Youth Substance Misuse In Lake County

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the Office of National Drug Control Policy has awarded $125,000 to the Lake County Community Health Coalition to implement comprehensive community-wide strategies to address the opioid and fentanyl crisis and prevent youth substance misuse. This investment will be used to educate youth and local communities on the dangers of alcohol, opioids, and other substance use, support healthy drug-free activities, enhance access to systems and services that help prevent youth substance abuse, and to provide key stakeholders with the resources they need to combat youth substance misuse.

"This much needed investment will help the Lake County Community Health Coalition ensure that communities in the region have the tools and resources they need to prevent substance misuse and address the addiction crisis," said Brown.

Brown has a long history of leadership and bipartisan collaboration in combatting substance misuse and ensuring that Ohio communities have the resources they need to respond to the addiction crisis. Earlier this year, Brown passed into law his FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which is a sanctions and anti-money laundering law aimed at stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl into Ohio communities by penalizing those that traffic in synthetic opioids. Brown and former Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) worked together to make more treatment beds available to Ohioans struggling with addiction, and to provide greater support to treat newborns exposed to opioids and their families. And his bipartisan bill to support grandparents raising children in light of the opioid epidemic, the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, was signed into law by President Trump. Brown has also urged major drug companies to make the opioid overdose medication, naloxone, available over the counter.

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