Candidates for Indiana’s 6th District in Congress may follow national party lines on some campaign issues, but their views on opioid abuse and drug addiction represent a wide range of thoughts.
Six Democrats and five Republicans are running in their respective parties’ May 8 primary for a spot on the Nov. 6 general election ticket and a chance to replace U.S. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., who instead is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate.
The Democrats are George Holland, of Rushville; Jeannine Lee Lake, of Muncie; K. Jasen Lave, of Covington; Jim Pruett, of Greensburg; Lane Siekman, of Rising Sun; and Joshua Williamson.
The Republicans are Mike Campbell, of Cambridge City; Jonathan Lamb, of Yorktown; Stephen MacKenzie, of Fortville; Greg Pence, of Columbus; and Jeff Smith, of Liberty.
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All the candidates expressed concern for the impact opioids are having, and addiction in general, but offered varying solutions.
Changes in the prescription of opioids is a major problem, Smith said. Two decades ago, opioids were mainly prescribed to end-of-life cancer patients, with about 78 million prescriptions written. Now, prescriptions have increased to about 260 million per year.
“We must reduce prescriptions to decrease availability and future dependency. Then use all recreational marijuana taxes to fund treatment,” Smith said.
Penalties for those who have pushed opioid prescriptions is an idea MacKenzie said he supports.
“We need to prosecute the doctors who have created this crisis, and provide block grants to every state so they can do what’s best for their specific regions,” MacKenzie said.
Pence said the opioid crisis is a top priority for him.
“The opioid epidemic is devastating and most of us have been directly impacted. Our veterans are nearly twice as likely to die from opioid overdose as the rest of the population,” Pence said.
Programs and tools to stop drugs from flowing across U.S. borders, and that help local law enforcement keep drugs out of communities are needed, Lamb said.
“We need programs locally to help those struggling with addiction. I will fight to prevent addiction from ever gripping a life, through prevention programs and education,” Lamb said.
Education remains the best solution for drug addiction, but harsher penalties for selling and manufacturing should be enacted, Campbell said.
“Funding should come from the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids or supply the product to produce opioids,” Campbell said.
Addiction is a problem involving public and private solutions, but starts with families talking and encouraging mental health assistance, Lake said. First-time drug offenders should not be sent to jail but enter rehabilitation, she said, and public funds should be used to build cohesive support systems.
Holland said he would focus government assistance on opioid crisis response teams for the cities and counties most devastated by opioid overdoses, and developing market incentives for pharmaceutical companies to develop medicines and vaccines that would make people less susceptible to opioid addiction.
The opioid and addiction problem is a medical problem, not a criminal problem, Pruett said.
“This is one reason I am supporting universal health insurance for all. An insurance that covers every single American for every single health issue — including mental health — would allow funds to be freed up from criminal cases.”
Drug abuse needs to be treated as both a disease and a social problem, Siekman said.
“I support fully funding treatment programs, and one potential source of funding would be availability of mental health treatment under a universal health care program, like Medicare for all,” Siekman said.
Prepaid physician groups need to be encouraged, Williamson said.
“It would drastically lower medical costs and take away incentives to overprescribe medications. This is a health care issue and needs to be fought at its roots in our health care setup and directly through funds for medical treatment and research into non-addictive products,” Williamson said.
Lave said marijuana needs to be decriminalized.
“It’s better to allow that buzz than fighting concentrated opium. But the real problem is lack of good jobs. And look, personal incomes and tax revenues can be made off pot. It should be treated the same as alcohol,” Lave said.
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