Earlier Thursday afternoon, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that Ohio would receive 77 million in federal State Opioid Response (SOR) grants to help local communities combat Ohio's drug crisis.

The SOR program is funded through the 21st Century CURES Act.

States have used the program to increase access to naloxone and support access to long-term addiction treatment and recovery services.

According to Senator Rob Portman's news release the grant comes at the perfect time as many communities are suffering from an increases in addiction, overdoses and and the need for behavioral health services due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

OhioMHAS will award $58.8 million in grants directly to local county alcohol, drug addiction and mental health services boards and their community partners.

"State Opioid Response funds are vital for Ohio's continued efforts to combat the addiction epidemic, and I'm pleased to have led efforts to create this federal funding stream through the CURES legislation and to help secure this funding for Ohio," said Portman.

"Many communities are seeing an increase in demand for mental health and substance use disorder services as the pandemic continues. The uncertainties of the pandemic intensify the struggle with substance use disorder that many Ohioans face," said Governor DeWine.