Porter County unclear if anti-drug efforts are paying off

"What are we doing different today than 24 months ago or 36 months ago?" Biggs asked.

Biggs called on members of the Porter County Substance Abuse Council Tuesday morning to begin answering these sorts of questions regularly to him and the other two commissioners.

"That would be helpful to us," he said.

The request arose as PCSAC board member Chris Buyer appeared before the commissioners to secure approval for this year's plan of attack.

The targeted areas are abuse of prescription drugs, opioids, heroin and other illicit drugs; alcohol use and abuse by adults and juveniles; and marijuana use by adults and juveniles, he said.

Members of the substance abuse council will seek funding from the group later this summer for programs targeting each of the problem areas, Buyer said. The council handed out $178,000 last year.

County Commissioner President Jeff Good, R-Center, said the inquiry into the council's effectiveness is just the start.

"We need to have more of a strategic approach to this," he said.

Buyer, who also serves as chief juvenile probation officer for the county, said following the meeting that the PCSAC is already looking at measures of effectiveness, such as the coroner's reports and self-reporting efforts by students.

As mentioned Tuesday by Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, the PCSAC underwent a shakeup a few years ago.

The dispute heated up enough then that county judges were collecting less of the fees that fund the PCSAC.

The council's funding is collected from drunk driving and drug offenders, and awarded each year to various governmental and nongovernmental entities combating substance abuse.