[photo] Trooper Mike Wilson of the Ohio Highway Patrol leads his canine partner, Pluto, past a truck on I-70 in Madison County. Last year, Ohio registered a record 3,050 overdose deaths, with many attributed to painkillers and heroin abuse.

Lt. Robert Sellers said state troopers' first job is to protect the public. Last year, troopers recovered 156 pounds of heroin and record amounts of painkillers and methamphetamines.

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Highway Patrol says the agency's new anti-drug emphasis is paying off with record seizures of heroin, opiates, and other illegal substances.

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Sgt. Kurt Beidelschies of the Ohio State Highway Patrol walks to his cruiser holding a truck driver's log books that will be examined for discrepancies after a drug-sniffing dog "alerted" to the presence of drugs on the truck along I-70 in Madison County.

Lt. Robert Sellers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol explains how his agency's new focus on stopping criminal activity along with its traditional role of traffic safety has led to record drug seizures in 2016, including a variety of drugs due for disposal.

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WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general is an outspoken foe of efforts to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes - and that has some wondering what it means for the 28 states that have legalized marijuana in some form.

Those states include Ohio, which is in the process of working on regulations for its own medical marijuana legalization. Aaron Marshall, a spokesman for Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, said his hope remains with Trump, who has repeatedly said he supports leaving marijuana legalization efforts to the states.

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COLUMBUS - In a case closely watched by law enforcement statewide, a sharply divided Ohio Supreme Court on Friday said prosecutors must prove the weight of the actual cocaine - and not fillers - to get stiffer sentences in drug busts.

For Rafael Gonzales, 58, convicted in Wood County in 2012 of first-degree felony cocaine possession, the 4-3 decision means his 11-year sentence could be slashed to one.

Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger, writing for the majority, said state law's definition of "cocaine" does not provide for fillers such as baking soda.

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Health officials in Lucas County are working to get the area's first needle exchange program up and running by the spring.

Health officials in Lucas County are working to get the area's first needle exchange program up and running by the spring, adding another weapon to their arsenal in the fight against the heroin and opioid epidemic.

Toledo will be the last large metro area in Ohio to adopt such an exchange. Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati all have them, as do the smaller cities of Dayton and Portsmouth. Such programs aim to decrease the likelihood of spreading HIV or hepatitis C among users who share needles.

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Findlay City Council made sure to give its two-year moratorium on medical marijuana a final vote Tuesday, but tabled legislation that would continue funding for the Arts Partnership of Greater Hancock County through the city's hotel/motel bed tax.

Council voted 9-1 to enact a ban on dispensing, cultivating or processing medical marijuana within city limits until Sept. 8, 2018. That will be exactly two years from the date the Ohio Legislature legalized the drug. Council plans to revisit the ban once state officials establish rules, which is expected to take at least two years.

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CINCINNATI - On the day he almost died, John Hatmaker bought a packet of Oreos and some ruby-red Swedish Fish at the corner store for his 5-year-old son. He was walking home when he spotted a man who used to sell him heroin.

Mr. Hatmaker, 29, had overdosed seven times in the four years he had been addicted to pain pills and heroin. But he hoped he was past all that. He had planned to spend that Saturday afternoon, Aug. 27, showing his son the motorcycles and enjoying the music at a prayer rally for Hope Over Heroin in this region stricken by soaring rates of drug overdoses and opioid deaths.

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Council Moving for Medical Marijuana Moratorium

With the term medical marijuana buzzing around, Avon Lake City Council's safety committee moved along a moratorium to a collective committee meeting during its meeting Aug. 24.

"A number of communities are doing this to allow for the dust to settle," said Safety Committee Chair David Kos, adding that they want to see how everything will land in place and how it will take effect.

Mayor Greg Zilka agreed with Kos that a lot of communities are taking action to give them some breathing room.

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President Barack Obama has said he considers marijuana no more dangerous than alcohol. More than three years ago, he said he had "bigger fish to fry" than targeting pot smokers in states that permit recreational use.

Federal officials remain in a haze when it comes to articulating a comprehensible policy on marijuana.

Perhaps last week's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals curtailing the feds from prosecuting legitimate growers and distributors will help clear the air.

Half the nation's states, led by California, permit medicinal applications. Four states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. In November, California could become the fifth.

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Six-Month Measure Needed to Evaluate Issue, City Officials Say.

MIAMISBURG - Miamisburg is moving to become the latest Miami Valley community to place a temporary ban on medical marijuana.

The city is considering a six-month ban on issuing and processing "any permits allowing retail dispensaries, cultivators, or processors of marijuana" in the city, according to a proposed ordinance.

Last month Beavercreek City Council approved a similar measure while Troy voted in favor of a 180-day moratorium.

Those cities' actions and the measure before Miamisburg City Council tonight follow Gov. John Kasich's signing in June of a bill that allows medical marijuana to be prescribed for certain ailments.

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COLUMBUS (AP) - An Ohio board that oversees attorney conduct said Thursday that attorneys aren't allowed to help someone establish a legal medical marijuana-related business in the state because using, growing and selling marijuana remains a federal crime.

The state Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct also said Ohio attorneys aren't legally permitted to use medical marijuana or to be personally involved in related businesses. Attorneys sought the opinion to determine whether a law barring employers from disciplining professionals from working with marijuana businesses applies to lawyers

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Sheffield Village Council will discuss Aug. 15 whether to prohibit the cultivation, processing and retail dispensing of marijuana for medical use in all its zoning districts during its regular meeting.

Mayor John Hunter said the Council also will have another option: a moratorium for up to six months.

Hunter said there is the moratorium for six months option because this will give the Village Council and the planning commission to review all Ohio statutes, criminal codes and the Village's zoning code.

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The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department will soon begin a local needle exchange program aimed at preventing intravenous drug users from contracting HIV or Hepatitis C.

The health board voted unanimously Thursday in support of starting a program which will be administered at two local sites. Both the Talbot Center, a drug addiction recovery center in East Toledo, and St. Paul United Methodist Church downtown have agreed to be access points for the exchanges, said Kelly Burkholder-Allen, acting director of health services.

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(AP) - Apparently unconstitutional portions of Ohio's medical marijuana law, which set aside a percentage of the state's pot licenses for minorities, were spotted during legislative debate but left in the bill to gain needed votes, a key lawmaker says.

State Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said legally prickly provisions exposed by The Associated Press in June may require changes. The law takes effect Sept. 8, at which point a new panel will begin laying out a blueprint for how the new industry will work.

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State Still Working on Rules for Medical Pot Dispensaries

LIBERTY TWP. - Liberty Twp. officials plan to ban or place a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses while various state agencies work on rules for the new law that allows the drug.

After a failed attempt at legalizing marijuana both for recreational and medical use, the state legislature and Gov. John Kasich signed into law a measure that will allow it only for medicinal purposes.

State Sen. Bill Coley, R-West Chester Twp., met with trustees Tuesday in a work session to discuss the new legislation. He encouraged them to place a moratorium on the medical drug while they figure out how they want to tackle the issue.

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It's not your grandfather's war on drugs. It can't be.

Over the years, we've watched police officers and agencies fight the good fight. Get the bad guys off the streets.

We've also watched as the fight changed and law enforcement leaders, who see the casualties from the front line in the drug war, became advocates for recovery.

They still have to do their jobs: enforce the state's drug laws.

But police agencies are now out front in a different way.

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Ohio Supreme Court Board Asked to Weigh In.

Attorneys are asking whether Ohio's new medical marijuana law that bars employers from disciplining professionals from working with marijuana businesses applies to them.

Lawyers have submitted at least two requests for formal opinions on the matter to the state Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct. Only the state's high court can discipline licensed attorneys.

Attorneys want to know whether lawyers can use medical marijuana, own or operate medical marijuana businesses and represent marijuana cultivators, processors, dispensaries, patients and caregivers. The new medical marijuana law bars professional license holders from being disciplined "solely for engaging in professional or occupational activities related to medical marijuana."

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WASHINGTON - When Sen. Rob Portman's campaign launched its first TV ads of 2016, it wasn't hard to sense a theme.

The first ad focused on Portman's work to fight Ohio's drug crisis. The second told the story of Tyler Campbell, a young man from Pickerington who died of a heroin overdose. A third told of a Lakewood woman who is a recovering heroin addict. And a fourth told the story of a young woman from Carrollton who died of a heroin overdose.

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Part of Ohio's new medical marijuana law that sets aside a piece of the state's budding pot business for minorities appears to be unconstitutional, legal experts told The Associated Press.

The provisions were inserted into the fast-tracked bill at the request of Democrats, whose votes were key to its passage in both Republican-controlled legislative chambers. The law made Ohio the 25th state to legalize medicinal cannabis. It takes effect Sept. 8.

The benchmarks require at least 15 percent of Ohio's cultivator, processor, retail dispensary and laboratory licenses to go to the businesses of one of four economically disadvantaged minority groups - - blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Native Americans - so long as an adequate number apply.

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Ohio lawyers are inquiring about the legal ethics accompanying medical marijuana.

A committee of the Board of Professional Conduct is examining the issue and expects to make a recommendation on an advisory opinion in August.

Two lawyers have sought guidance on ethical issues since lawmakers recently legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medical purposes.

The questions being asked include the type of services lawyers can provide to marijuana-related businesses, attorney ownership in related businesses and the personal use of medical marijuana.

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