Governor signs 4 laws combatting Indiana’s opioid crisis

(U.S. Air Force photo illustration/Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner)

Gov. Eric Holcomb has signed four bills that he says will help attack Indiana’s opioid epidemic from “every angle.”

Holcomb said Thursday that the bill will increase the number of opioid treatment locations, jack up criminal penalties for drug dealers and expand the system that monitors opioid prescriptions. Another measure will improve data collected from local coroners on overdose deaths.

The measures were part of the Republican governor’s agenda.

Like many states, Indiana has been struggling to contain the opioid epidemic, which has caused the number of overdose deaths to skyrocket and has led to a surge of children in foster care.