One of Ohio Gov. John Kasich's top priorities is to make state government more efficient. That saves taxpayers money - and delivers better services to them.
A move in that direction will be made soon, it was announced last week. State agencies handling mental health and substance abuse will be merged.
Already there has been criticism of the proposal. One worry is that it will reduce services to help drug and gambling addicts.
But the plan is entirely logical. Addictions of any kind involve mental illness, in a way. Providing a coordinated approach should, if anything, identify and help treat addicts better.
And, as an official of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Ohio pointed out, reducing the cost of administration and overhead will make more funds available for treatment.
Kasich's plan is a good one. It should be implemented as soon as possible to provide the coordinated approach missing for too long.
