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In an Indianapolis Star op-ed on September 1, IU McKinney Professor of Law Nicolas Terry and Visiting Professor Aila Hoss sound an alarm about why Indiana is still in the grip of the opioid overdose epidemic, and what steps Indiana can take now to reduce the number of deaths.

While the death rate due to drug overdoses has flattened nationally, “there is little to cheer for those of us in the upper Midwest and Southern regions,” the authors write. Indiana, like other states hardest hit by the overdose crisis, exhibits poverty, inadequate health care, and marginalized populations, “the progenitors of death from suicide, chronic substance use, and overdoses, collectively what we call diseases of despair,” according to Professors Terry and Hoss.

Long-term investments are needed, but Professors Terry and Hoss also outline steps Indiana can take immediately to reduce the death toll.

“In the long-term, and hopefully backed by federal dollars, Indiana must invest in building far greater resilience to public health crises. In the short term, our state and federal representatives must act this fall and provide the tools to save lives. If not, we risk losing another 2,000 Hoosiers over the next year,” they write.

Professor Terry is Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director of the William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health. Terry and Hoss, along with Professor Ross Silverman, serves on a research team funded by the Indiana University Addictions Grand Challenge and co-authored the report Legal and Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Abuse Crisis.