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How one city wants to reduce drug abuse among young people

BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — Beech Grove is trying a new strategy for putting an end to the heroin epidemic.

Officials there have started the Beech Grove Comprehensive Drug Coalition. The coalition is trying to tackle drug abuse in four ways: community meetings and events, weekly intervention meetings for addicts, support groups for loved ones and stress management for the community.

Although Beech Grove is not experiencing a higher than average problem, they say one addict is one too many.

Eric Kirby, 22, knows that better than anyone. Thursday morning, he spent time with his younger sisters. It’s the simple things that he now appreciates.

“My most valuable things are gone now because I wanted to get high for one day,” he said.

One day turned into two, and then three and before he knew it, it became a three-year, $100-a-day addiction.

“I got kicked out. I was homeless and out in the cold for three weeks. That was a big wake-up call right there,” he said.

It was a wake-up call that officials in Beech Grove hope will soon be unnecessary. The city called on Diana Hendricks, a community health education specialist. She completed a needs assessment, to determine the scope of drug addiction in Beech Grove.

“We’re not worse, we’re not better. We were just right along the line with the national substance use and abuse,” said Hendricks.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem. According to Hendricks, nearly one in 10 adults reported substance abuse within the last 30 days.

Hendricks set up the Beech Grove Comprehensive Drug Coalition to reduce drug abuse, especially among youth: “Get programs into the school system that would hopefully teach them what these illicit substances are doing to their bodies,” she said.

The coalition has been working with Drug Free Marion County to apply for grants and to get direction on how to tackle this problem.

So far, they’ve received two grants totaling nearly $34,000. One grant will go toward quarterly workshops to help parents with things like identifying drug abuse signs and how to talk to their children. The other grant will go toward a survey conducted by Indiana University. They hope to learn the scope of the problem among young people and develop programs to benefit them.

“There’s brain development that occurs until somebody is at least 21, maybe 25. If you can delay the onset of anything, any substance, whether it’s tobacco, alcohol or any illicit drugs, the chances of having some serious consequences or impact from them or families or the community is significantly reduced,” said Randy Miller of Drug Free Marion County.

It’s an effort that may be a little late for Kirby, but not too late.

“I actually do things that I’m interested in again. Every day is a little better,” he said.

Kirby’s short-term goal is to get a job. He had been dropping off applications before WISH-TV interviewed him. His long-term goal? A solid career and a home. Kirby is in his first month of recovery.