INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Republican State Representative Jim Merritt has introduced a bill that would require the Office of Management and Budget to quantify the fiscal impact of drug addiction. The study would assess the financial impact in government programs, agencies, insurance companies and private businesses.
Merritt stated, “Drug abuse has other effects. If you don’t have a healthy state, no one’s going to want to come live here. It’s just like any other economic factor — having good schools or good roads — you want a society to be healthy.”
Merritt believes drug addiction can no longer be viewed as “someone else’s problem.” He says there is much work to be done to ensure the state has adequate treatment facilities to help people in need of recovery. “There are a lot of people who think that the only way someone can get clean is to go behind bars. That is not correct. That is not the right approach,” he said.
