Hamilton County united in fight against heroin

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By Adam Aasen

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence recently announced a new task force charged with tackling the “scourge” of heroin deaths. In Hamilton County, the mayors of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville and Westfield all say they are sharply focusing on this rising statewide problem.

Pence suggested a “fresh approach” is needed after Indiana saw 152 deaths linked to heroin in 2013, up from three deaths in 2003, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

According to data collected by the Indiana State Police and analyzed by Indiana University, heroin cases in Indiana tripled between 2008 and 2013. Although it can be hard to determine how big the problem is in Hamilton County, Hamilton County Sheriff Mark Bowen has that he has noticed the heroin trend and other officials anecdotally say it’s on the rise. But agencies like the Carmel Police Department do not categorize their drug crime reports based on the type of drug used, so concrete numbers on the scope of the issue are limited.

Bowen said the county is not immune to rise in heroin use in Indiana. He participated in a free forum for families back in April and speakers included Hamilton County/Boone County Task Force members, those affected by the drug and politicians such as State Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis.

In any case, Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear agrees that the entire county can work to tackle this problem.

“Our police and law enforcement work very well together in the county,” he said. “We have a drug task force that is shared by all of us and they probably do as good of a job as any agency.”


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