© 2026 WOSU Public Media
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Outgoing Rep. Johnson Challenges Ohio's Gov. and Lawmakers Over the Opioid Crisis

Greta Johnson, while representing the 35th district in the Ohio House of Representatives
Jo Ingles
/
State House Bureau
Greta Johnson, while representing the 35th district in the Ohio House of Representatives

State Rep. Greta Johnson, whose 35th district includes Akron and Barberton, officially leaves the Ohio Legislature Sunday.  She announced several weeks ago she was resigning before the end of her term.  On the way out of Columbus she had a message for Gov. John Kasich. 

Greta Johnson, while representing the 35th district in the Ohio House of Representatives
Credit Jo Ingles / State House Bureau
/
State House Bureau
Greta Johnson, while representing the 35th district in the Ohio House of Representatives

Greta Johnson, a Democrat, sent Republican Gov. John Kasich a letter asking him to do more to fight the opioid epidemic in Ohio and to declare it a health emergency. Johnson says both his efforts, and those of the  Legislature, have been piecemeal and uncoordinated.

“You have to look at them all together, and the way certain legislation will interact. Instead, we’re just throwing bills at different committees and hoping that they don’t interfere with each other.

"So, the Legislature has not responded in the way that they should have. But, certainly, our top administrator and executive has not done so either.”

Johnson says frustration with how things are done in Columbus is part of why she resigned.  But an opportunity to work for her mentor, Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, is the biggest reason.   

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

Tim Rudell
Tim Rudell has worked in broadcasting and news since his student days at Kent State in the late 1960s and early 1970s (when he earned extra money as a stringer for UPI). He began full time in radio news in 1972 in his home town of Canton, OH.