Washington, DC — Over the weekend, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sat down with POLITICO at the Texas Tribune Festival to discuss how she’s leading the fight in combating the opioid crisis. AG Rosenblum told POLITICO, “‘It’s everywhere. No one can deny it. If you do, you’ve just got blinders on,’ she said, explaining that her office was ‘very strong on the interdiction of drugs, and very strong on prosecution’ of dealers.”

On Oregon’s commitment to transparency, AG Rosenblum said, “We’re maintaining that kind of control through our Oregon Health Authority, which is our state agency that oversees this program. And so we are committed to 100%.” She continued, “We are going to be watching very closely how these monies are spent and we are going to be keeping track of that data through our initial allocation by the state to do that.”

On the state AG’s role in upholding the law and pursuing other strategies to address the opioid crisis, AG Rosenblum said, “We need to do it all.” She added, “And I think that we’ve demonstrated that we are up to the task by the settlements that we have obtained and by the injunctive terms that have been applied with regard to the various distributors, manufacturers and dispensaries.”

In closing remarks, AG Rosenblum said, “We have to address what’s going on on our streets, homelessness, mental health. Those are critical problems. We can’t just one-off this issue. We have to look at it as what we would describe as wraparound services for those who are struggling.”

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