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Senator Brown announces funding for opioid detection devices

Millions of dollars will be available in state level grants, which Ohio will have priority to.
Sherrod Brown (Source: WTOL)

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Earlier this week, billions of federal dollars were approved to fight the opioid epidemic in our nation.

Senator Sherrod Brown joined local law enforcement at Toledo Police headquarters to discuss how that money will be used.

Millions of dollars will be available in state level grants, which Ohio will have priority to.

The spending bill also provides $65 million for Brown's legislation to fund opioid detection devices that will intercept fentanyl being shipped through the mail or by other means.

"This will cut down the supply of the most toxic drug, fentanyl and carfentanyl, but with that we obviously need to scale up treatment programs where far too many people overdose while they're waiting to get treatment because we simply don't have enough facilities," Senator Brown said.

The Zepf Center says this funding will go a long way in getting fentanyl off the streets and will hopefully decrease the number of overdoses happening in our community.

TPD chief George Kral says police took $16 million worth of illegal drugs off Toledo's streets last year, but didn't even scratch the surface of the drugs circulating in our area.

Chief Kral says this funding will help because the largest seizures are made through the mail.

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