A diverse group of eight panelists agreed there is no easy solution to the drug epidemic that plagues American society.
Logan County Sheriff Randy Dodds shows an aerosol can with a false bottom that is used to conceal drugs as other panelists listen during the Top of Ohio Patriots’ forum on drug addiction Thursday evening. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)
But they all tended to agree common factors in the solution are God and the family.
“We’re at a point that we now know that this is a spiritual issue,” Jim Burkholder of the Top of Ohio Patriots Group said at the conclusion of the 2 1/2 hour forum the group hosted Thursday evening. “The answer is in the church; the answer is in your hearts and the answer is in the black book we call the Bible.”
The eight experts assembled included Logan County Sheriff Randy Dodds; Logan County Family Court Judge Kim Kellogg-Martin; Steve Terrill, a local lobbyist and recovering alcoholic; 83rd District State Rep. Nino Vitale; Steve Marshall, a pharmacist and co-chair of the Community Coalition for Opiate Relief Efforts; Tammy Nicholl, of the Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties and the other CORE co-chair; Rhonda Gilbert, a caseworker with Consolidated Care Inc.; and Sandra Monfort, a Celebrate Recovery Ministry leader from Allen County.
The crowd was equally diverse with a large number of community leaders including not only the conservative and politically active Patriots members but also city council members; the Logan County Prosecutor; Bellefontaine Police Chief; a marijuana legalization activist; members of the local recovery community; and family members who have lost loved ones to drug overdoses.
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
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