1/25/18 – 5:23 A.M.

Fostoria residents talked about the ongoing opioid crisis Wednesday night. The H.O.P.E organization held their first meeting, focusing on the role prescription painkillers play in getting people hooked. The Review-Times reports Orman Hall of the Heroin Response Project told the group opioids are still overprescribed. He added it amounts to around “70 doses per person” in the U.S.

Hall said people get hooked on legal painkillers but then turn to illegal drugs like heroin once their prescription runs out. He called for an end to overprescribing opioids. Hall also said doctors can’t abandon patients after they receive an opioid prescription.

Those on hand for the meeting also discussed ways they can help in the community. One suggestion included starting an open fund to help pay for treatment of area residents. The group also talked about starting a drug court to help people with drug convictions get clean.