INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Gov. Eric Holcomb joined Indiana University officials to announce a new $50 million effort to reduce opioid abuse.
Opiate abuse has spiked across much of the U.S., but Indiana's problem is particularly acute. It is one of four states where overdose deaths have more than quadrupled since 1999.
The Republican governor and IU President Michael McRobbie announced the new effort to combat that trend Tuesday morning at the Statehouse.
The $50 million budget will be spread over the next five years. About $13 million will be immediately used over the next six months on more than 10 different projects.
It's part of the university's "Grand Challenges" program, which seeks solutions for vexing problems.
IU plans to use the money and its academic expertise to help collect data on the scope of the problem, train health care workers and craft better policy.
Holcomb has made fighting the opioid epidemic a cornerstone of his agenda.
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