Former Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Troy Riggs famously described Indiana’s opioid-addiction crisis as “a death spiral” in the summer of 2016.
Receiving national attention in 2015, Indiana’s opioid problem was laid bare by a massive AIDS outbreak in Scott County, a county in southeastern Indiana.
Our state government needs to do more to stop these outbreaks.
With an HIV and AIDS incidence rate higher than many developing countries, Scott County’s outbreak traced back to the sharing and reuse of needles by heroin users.
Shocked by reports of multi-generational drug use by families and abandoned needles on the sides of roads, the state funded local treatment and a needle-sharing program now available on a county-by-county basis across the state.
The local action in Scott County was matched by legislation during the 2016 Statehouse session to allow pharmacists to improve country opioid-based painkillers. By restricting what has become a gateway to heroin use, its proponents argued, we can cut down the heroin addiction rate.
Despite these first steps, we still haven’t made a dent in the problem.
According to an IU-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Public Health study published in 2016, Indiana’s heroin overdose rates have been rising year after year since the start of the 2000s and show no signs of slowing down.
The same report highlights this is a problem in counties large and small and crosses local and state borders.
The human costs are real. Overdose deaths, broken families, and an overcrowding and financial strain on our already burdened prisons are the results of the opioid epidemic.
A particularly troubling trend is the increase of children in the welfare system because of opioid-dependent parents and newborns suffering from opioid addiction.
In a heated political climate, with the upcoming national battles over health care and budget debates in Indiana, this issue could easily be overlooked.
It shouldn’t. A strong response to this problem now will save effort, money and lives later.
A fully funded package that includes new legislation on treatment, addiction and substance reporting, and enforcement of existing criminal laws with an all-of-the-above focus would help Indiana slow the growth of this dangerous trend.
Indiana’s elected officials have shown promising signs on the heroin epidemic. Gov. Eric Holcomb has made it one of his top five legislative priorities, and Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, has already introduced a number of bills designed to fight it.
As Indiana has led on fiscal responsibility and good governance, let us lead on stopping the heroin epidemic.
br.gamache@gmail.com
