February 09, 2018

Last fall, with great fanfare, President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a "public health emergency." Just last month, in his annual State of the State address, Governor Eric Holcomb identified the fight against opioid abuse as a top priority for this year's legislative session. Sadly, most Hoosiers didn't need any such formal pronouncements to recognize or appreciate the severity of the problem. They've seen firsthand the terrible toll that opioid addiction has taken on their communities and, far too often, on their own families. It's claimed thousands of lives, stretched public-health resources to the breaking point, and dealt a multibillion-dollar blow to the economy. Those battling the epidemic have employed a wide variety of weapons, including public-awareness campaigns more stringent guidelines for prescribers, tighter controls on wholesale drug distributors and, for users, increased access to both overdose intervention and long-term treatment. On this edition of Indiana Lawmakers Host Jon Schwantes sits down with Senator Jim Merritt of Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill and Larry Landis of the Indiana Public Defender Council.