In 2017, drug overdoses increased 18% in Indiana compared to the previous year. Opioid addiction is having a terrible effect on Hoosiers and their families and has become a major issue for a variety of reasons. One of the contributing factors to opioid addiction is the overprescribing of opioids.
For several years, the Indiana General Assembly has been working to address this issue. In 2018, Indiana legislators passed a bill that requires licensed health care practitioners to receive continued opioid prescription and abuse training in order to help fight this deadly epidemic.
Under this law, which took effect July 1, 2019, any health care professional who prescribes controlled substances must have completed two hours of continued opioid prescribing and opioid abuse education during the previous two years.
Everyone has to do their part to fight addiction in Indiana, whether that means properly disposing of medications or helping someone get treatment, and as lawmakers, we are working to do our part by creating laws to help prevent and treat addiction, as well as enable the enforcement of our laws against those who help feed addiction in our state.
For more information on the new law, click here.
