The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County plans to make an impact on the opiate drug epidemic in the coming months.

Jeff Jones is the executive lead for the joint effort between Columbus, Bartholomew County and Columbus Regional Health.

“I believe that the community is rallying around this crisis,” Jones said. “We are taking it very seriously. Our team feels good about all the support, the encouragement we are getting from the citizens of our county.”

The alliance formally started its efforts in April of last year by researching the problem and possible solutions.

Jones says that now it is about execution. Various projects are being developed to battle the drug problem, and should come to fruition in 2018, Jones says.

That includes opening the old portion of the county jail to allow for drug treatment there, the creation of a drug court to handle the influx of cases, and the recruitment of treatment centers to the county.

“We are committed to action,” Jones said. “It is a crisis.”

You can here more from the interview with Jones on News & Views, our weekend news show. It is available here.