BEDFORD — Opiod drugs are a sensitive topic for a lot of people in the area. Many people have different ideas on how to help drug addicts, and none of them are cheap or easy.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has experienced first hand the debates between lawmakers about what steps the state and county governments should take next to help with an epidemic.
"We've got to get a grip on it before we have a 92-county epidemic," Zoeller said at a town hall meeting Wednesday at the Bedford Chamber.
Because of hepatitis C outbreaks in Lawrence and nearby counties, Lawrence County is taking action to start a needle exchange program. It will be the fifth in the state.
Supporters assert that it's a way to reach addicts, educate them about the dangers of sharing needles and provide information about how to get treatment for their addiction if they are ready to enter a program, Zoeller explained.
Others, like Ron Pridemore, question why taxpayers should pay to provide a drug addict with a clean syringe to get high again.
"I say no to drugs," said Pridemore, who is also a candidate for Lawrence County Commissioner.
"When you find yourself in the midst of a crisis, what do you do?" Zoeller asked.
No legislator wants to help drug addicts get high, Zoeller said, but it's a medical emergency, and the needle exchange is the only answer to stop the disease from spreading, according to doctors. Zoeller also explained that taxpayers aren't buying the needles for drug users, because laws don't allow the sale of syringes. The needles are supplied by charitable organizations, but a lot of the users getting the needles from the program are on Medicare and Medicaid, or they don't have insurance at all, and that's where taxpayer dollars come into effect.
Zoeller further explained that Scott County, which has found more cases of hep C than Lawrence County, is facing $42 million and counting in expenses because of the disease.
"These are our friends and neighbors. These are our children. It's in our workplaces," Zoeller said.
He admitted treatment is expensive, costing $63,000 to cure hep C for one person in a 12-week treatment plan.
"But we're staring at a crisis," Zoeller said.
He compared it to the tornado that caused disaster in Henryville.
"We didn't take a vote then. We all came together and helped. This is a crisis," Zoeller said.
He added that 80 percent of heroin users became addicted to heroin after being prescribed an opiod medication for pain. It starts when people are young. It could be a 16-year-old boy who hurt his knee in a basketball game or a 17-year-old girl who was injured in a car accident.
"Insurance companies tell doctors to give them 90 days of pain medication so they don't have to come back," Zoeller said. Within a year, they're addicts, searching for more prescription medications from their parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors. Then, once they can no longer find the drugs from those sources, they find heroin on the streets, and share needles, because they don't have any more money and clean needles are hard to find.
"They're all children of God, so I can't just say, 'No. I'm sorry, but you made a choice'," Zoeller said.
Zoeller is seeking the Republican nomination for Indiana's 9th Congressional District.