ANDERSON — Officials with local agencies that deliver services to people with substance abuse problems hope the new Governor's Task Force on Drug Enforcement, Treatment and Prevention will deliver not only ideas but resources.
“I don’t think there’s too few resources we could direct toward that, just based on what we see here in the problem solving court,” said Chris Lanane, coordinator of the Madison County Problem Solving Courts. “We’ve got to have the resources in the community for the people coming back to the community and the treatment needs to be real focused.”
The recently announced governor’s task force will meet for the first time on Wednesday. Additional meetings are scheduled for Oct. 15 and Nov. 19.
Meetings will take place in the north, south and central regions and are to include testimony from local experts and families impacted by the drug abuse epidemic. The task force is prepare a final report with recommendations that will be delivered to the governor.
Established by executive order, the task force will bring together Indiana experts from a variety of specialties to evaluate the growing drug problem in Indiana.
Between 1999 and 2009, the rate of drug overdose deaths in Indiana increased by 500 percent, and in 2013, Indiana ranked 16th in the nation for overdose rates.
“We’ve created the Governor’s Task Force on Drug Enforcement, Treatment and Prevention because it is time to take a holistic and collaborative approach to addressing substance abuse and its many heartbreaking repercussions in our state,” Gov. Pence said in a statement.
He acknowledged that drug abuse is not unique to Indiana, and several agencies already are immersed in prevention, treatment and law enforcement efforts.
“An effort of this magnitude requires the insight and involvement of all three branches of government, multiple state agencies, local municipalities, experts in the fields of drug treatment and youth intervention, community outreach, medical authorities and I welcome the input of all of those who will be involved in this critical undertaking. Together is the best way to reduce, prevent, and treat drug addiction in Indiana.”
Lanane said he believes the task force has the potential to be successful similarly to the way he believes the Madison County Coalition Against Substance Abuse, made up of various agencies, has been somewhat successful.
“I’m not sure how to measure in terms of what we have been able to accomplish, but I think they’ve been pretty successful. It’s like in our program, you just count them one by one,” he said.
Lanane characterized the drug abuse problem in Madison County as “overwhelming.”
“I’d say right now, it just seems likes the availability of heroin in our community is just becoming overwhelming almost,” he said.
Lanane said he hopes the task force will be able to identify more strategies and resources for prevention at the front end of the problem and for treatment at the back end.
Dr. Andrew Skinner, medical director for the Anderson Center at St. Vincent Anderson Regional Hospital, is board certified in addiction medicine and psychiatry.
In addition to possibly bringing more resources to solve the issues of drug dependency, then task force, hopefully, will provide some much-needed education so attitudes toward people with addictions become less punitive and more sympathetic, he said.
“I think the idea that resources would be better spent on treatment and prevention rather than law enforcement is long overdue,” he said. “I’d like to see some better understanding of addiction as a disease.”
Skinner said the “War on Drugs” has been an unfair war on users. In addition, he said, it’s been an expensive war in which the first line of defense typically has been incarceration, which is expensive to the taxpayer, rather than treatment.
“We have known for a long time that there has been a return on investment for treatment,” he said. “We have an out-of-control prison industrial complex that thrives on it but does little for the people.”