Prison Director Blames Presciption Painkillers For Continued Prison Over Crowding

State prisons director Gary Mohr says Ohio's prescription painkiller epidemic is thwarting efforts to reduce the inmate population through changes to sentencing laws. Mohr told the Ohio Senate Finance Committee today after a defendant relapses several times, judges conclude their probation has to be revoked. He says alternatives such as secure halfway houses in the state's big cities are working, but the need for them is strongest in rural areas. The already overcrowded prison system is projected to exceed 51 thousand inmates by the end of June, well above predictions. A 2011 sentencing law was designed to reduce the inmate population.