Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor revealed Thursday that her two sons struggle with opioid addiction, sharing her experience to aid other constituents facing the same issue.
Taylor first became aware of the problem in 2012 when her older son called her and admitted he that had a drug problem. Since then, the family has faced multiple overdoses, trips to the emergency room and failed drug treatment programs.
“Like many Ohioans, my family is struggling with addiction,” Mary Taylor told the Dayton Daily News. “The opioid crisis has come in through my front door. We are like, I’m sure, many others who have been dealing with it.”
Taylor said both of her sons, Joe, 26 and Michael, 23, are doing well, although one remains in a drug treatment program.
“It’s not pretty,” Taylor said. “Until we found the treatment that worked for [our sons], the voice of worry was very loud and it was very scary. Very scary.”
Taylor, a Republican currently running for governor, revealed that her family struggles with addiction one day after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that the state is suing five large pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid crisis. (RELATED: Ohio Lawsuit Likens Big Pharma To Tobacco Over Their ‘Scheme To Deceive Doctors’)
Ohio has been hit especially hard by the opioid epidemic, which claimed 3,050 lives in the state in 2015 alone.
Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Associate Dean of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, told the Dayton Daily News that Taylor’s experience with addiction illustrates the pervasiveness of addiction across socioeconomic lines.
“It shows that addiction affects everyone,” Sharfstein said. “Addiction does not discriminate. It illustrates the challenge that every mother and father has worrying about their children and whether they can fall victim to this horrible problem.”
“It is incredibly important for people to talk about the experiences that their families have had,” Sharfstein said. “It’s difficult and it’s courageous.”
Taylor said that, while her personal experience has taught her a great deal about addiction, she does not yet have a detailed plan to combat the problem.
“We need a comprehensive solution and it’s going to involve the feds. It’s going to involve everybody,” Taylor said. “We need law enforcement, we need community activists, we need churches and faith-based groups. A comprehensive solution is going to be just that.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.