Merritt’s first speech as a candidate focused primarily on three things – homelessness, crime, and grassroots support.

In a statement Merritt says the party needs a leader who can be "laser focused" on winning back the City-County Council and the Mayor’s Office.

The Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative, RALI Indiana, is a diverse group. It includes nurses, law enforcement, anti-drug coalitions and businesses.

During a routine inspection Thursday at the intersection, Citizens Energy found a collapsed manhole structure. The company says it could have caused a sinkhole like the one that opened earlier this month.

Such databases alert providers to patient risk factors, such as seeing several doctors to get multiple prescriptions.

According to the prosecutor’s office, there are no plans to request a special prosecutor.

Sen. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) says Indiana's criminal justice system has broken down at the court level.

Gov. Mike Pence created the Drug Enforcement, Treatment and Prevention Task Force last summer to respond to the state’s drug crisis. Lawmakers and the governor’s office now want to make the task force permanent with a bill establishing the Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse.

The Lifeline law provides drunk minors with immunity from underage drinking charges if they seek medical or police help for any reason. Indianapolis Republican Sen. Jim Merritt wants to expand it further, this time providing immunity from drug charges for people under 21.

As Indiana government and health officials grapple with the state’s ongoing drug abuse crisis, they say the problem begins and ends, in many ways, with the issue of stigma. And, it’s an issue that can’t be solved through a piece of legislative or administrative policy.