{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://susanwbrooks.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/drug-issues-continue-to-plague-communities", "Drug issues continue to plague communities", "2016-10-05", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Susan Brooks", "B001284", "susanwbrooks.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Over 60 people gathered for the Critical Issues Community Forum: The Heroin Crisis Sept. 29 at Ivy Tech Community College.\nThe event, which was sponsored by the Batesville Rotary Club, Coalition for a Drug-Free Batesville, Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, The Herald-Tribune, Margaret Mary Health and Ivy Tech, allowed participants to hear what was going on regarding the heroin issue at the local, state and federal levels.\nMike Kruse, Rotary District 6580 assistant governor, explained how this forum came about: \"In October 2015, the Batesville Rotary Club invited state Rep. Cindy Ziemke to talk to our group and community members about what was happening in the Legislature .... She also talked about how heroin affected her family ... (and) encouraged us to promote community discussions\" concerning this issue.\nLocally\nBatesville Police Chief Stan Holt reported, \"About five years ago, we realized we had a problem here in Batesville with heroin. We noticed it in traffic stops, and it surprised us because we never saw that before. In 2011, we were also shocked to see that surveys done in the schools showed that some students were doing heroin. We started pulling together a small group for a (drug-free) coalition.\n\"Within just a few weeks after that, I got a phone call about a young girl (Cierra Adams) who had died from a heroin overdose .... Then we started hearing of other heroin overdoses on the outskirts of town.\n\"You talk about going into a little panic .... I looked at it as what is law enforcement going to do? One of the first things we did as a police department was we started getting the training on drug enforcement. We already had good partnerships with the Indiana State Police and county sheriff's departments. I took one of my guys and had him work with the state police.\n\"With the overdose of this 18-year-old girl, we started getting tips in our department. Everyone wanted to help as much as they could. We arrested 15 local drug dealers in that first year going undercover with the state police. These big drug dealers were high school graduates who just graduated the year before .... I gave my cell phone number to any family members who were having trouble with their kids. I was getting calls late at night from parents crying and saying they didn't know what to do .... We realized this is a community problem, not just a law enforcement problem.\n\"I wanted something to happen quickly .... I went through spells asking 'why do we have the drug-free coalition because we're not doing anything?'\n\"As time went on, we had more people coming to the table (from local entities). The schools were putting on programs about alcohol and gateway drugs education ... Margaret Mary Health began funding Narcan for our officers, and they continue to fund this program .... We began to see that the coalition was making progress.\"\nHolt noted, \"We continue to have drug investigations going on .... (Individuals) go to jail and bond out, and we see the same faces over and over again.\n\"The key is treatment,\" he stressed. \"We've got families here in this community who are sending loved ones to Florida, California, Kentucky ... to try to find the best treatment centers ....\n\"We believe the drugs are funnelled into our community from Cincinnati .... We have a local state trooper who's on a national drug task force, and it's very common for him to say, 'The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) is working on a case out of Chicago. Can we use your dog (K-9 Jinx)?' .... Our K-9 program was started in 2011 and was fully funded by the community.\"\nThe chief said, \"We work with the prosecutors in both counties (Franklin and Ripley) ... but the one we work with the most is (Ripley County's) Ric Hertel.\n\"A few months ago, we discussed how to go after a dealer in Cincinnati ... Our plan was to get an informant who works with us to go to Cincinnati and and work with the drug task force over there so we can get (the dealer on a) charge of conspiracy to transport drugs across state lines. (Please see story in Oct. 7 issue.)\n\"In Ohio, those dealers' sentences are so much lower, about four years, compared to 30-40 years in Indiana. That's the message we want to send back to them .... If our people go over to deal and get caught, they will spend their lives in jail.\"\nHolt emphasized, \"We believe our efforts are paying off .... We will aggressively continue doing everything we can .... How can the regular citizen help? If you see something that doesn't look right, report it immediately.\"\nState level legislative update\nState Sen. Jean Leising reported, \"This drug problem has crossed all levels of income .... We have to realize that we have to work together with law enforcement, prosecutors and state level people ....\n\"My interest peaked when I realized Fayette County, Connersville, had a serious, serious problem. Not only did they have a heroin problem, they had a hepatitis C problem, and their jail was overflowing.\"\nShe said Senate Enrolled Act 187 requires pharmacies to have a standing order for opioid overdose intervention drugs such as naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, which block the effects of opioids, stopping the overdose. \"It gives access to Narcan to any individual.\"\nLeising admitted she was a little skeptical about this at first, thinking, \"Doesn't that encourage somebody to do drugs?\" However, someone said to me, 'What if it was your brother's kids? Would you want to have them live or die?'\"\n\"The missing component is treatment. What can we do for that person whose life was saved?\" SEA 297 requires more regulation for opioid treatment centers to ensure they operate in a reputable way. Researchers have found that medication like methadone, which is used to reduce withdrawal symptoms of opioid addictions like heroin, can be extremely addictive. By having these treatment centers accept Medicaid and the Healthy Indiana Plan, more oversight on the integrity of their operations can be provided.\nHouse Enrolled Act 1347 \"requires Medicaid to assist in mental health and addiction counseling. That is a good direction.\"\nShe revealed, \"Everyone tells me ... detox is so horrible. It's tough for jails to deal with or people at home.\" There is a totally different concept, a device called the Neuro-Stims Systems Bridge, which attaches to the ear, which helps reduce the pain of going off drugs. \"This device has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for pain control, but not for drug detox.\"\nThe senator also revealed two acts of legislation that target drug dealers:\n\u2022 SEA 290 closes a loophole that allowed some drug traffickers to escape drug-dealing charges by being charged with the lesser crime of drug possession. It specifies that if a person possesses a large amount of drugs, he or she can be charged and convicted for drug dealing based solely on the amount of drugs in his or her possession\n\u2022 HEA 1235 institutes mandatory minimum sentences for the worst meth and heroin dealers.\n\"We've got to get those big, bad guys off the street,\" she pointed out.\n\"I was in favor of the Syringe Exchange Program,\" a public health strategy that offers drug users clean needles to prevent the spread of hep C and HIV. \"Only six counties (Clark, Fayette, Madison, Monroe, Scott and Wayne) have been approved to operate SEPs.\"\nTo be put in place, the Indiana State Department of Health commissioner must declare a public health emergency in a county, city or town. The declaration cannot last more than one year, but can be renewed by the commissioner if the emergency continues.\nLeising stressed, \"For anyone who doesn't think there is a problem here (in southeastern Indiana), there is.\"\nFederal level\nMelanie Douglas, regional director for U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly's southeastern Indiana Office, Jeffersonville, reported, \"For more than two years, Senator Donnelly has been working to address heroin and opioid use .... He and Sen. Susan Brooks have held two roundtables on the opioid abuse epidemic. The first was in September 2015 with federal, state and local public health officials, doctors and pharmacists to discuss the role providers play in helping to address the opioid abuse problem. The second was in April 2016 with Indiana University School of Medicine doctors, professors, faculty and medical residents to learn more about IUSM\u2019s efforts to educate and train medical students, residents and current physicians on best prescribing practices, pain management, substance abuse and treating addiction.\n\"In June 2016, he held a roundtable in northwest Indiana focused on drug abuse prevention efforts with federal, state and local officials to discuss federal and local partnerships and programs that are at work.\"\nHe also worked on CARA, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which will provide states and local communities with important tools to prevent and treat drug addiction and support individuals in recovery, she said.\nAccording to a Fairbanks Foundation study, \"opioid overdose deaths cost Indiana $1.4 billion in 2014 related to medical costs and lost lifetime earnings.\n\"As a community, we continue to be affected by heroin and the opioid epidemic, and it will take all of us working together to solve this problem,\" Douglas emphasized.\nDiane Raver can be contacted at\u00a0diane.raver@batesvilleheraldtribune.com\u00a0or 812-934-4343, Ext. 114.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://susanwbrooks.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/drug-issues-continue-to-plague-communities"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4180128928273916, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}