Indiana is one of the many states that has been wrestling with how to decrease its residents’ drug use — especially of opioids, a class of drugs that includes heroin and some prescription painkillers. A new gadget is helping people at a Union County clinic get through the early phase of their recovery.

Living with active addiction can keep a person busy, almost like a job. That’s why occupational therapy researchers think giving people in recovery something equally consuming to do -- such as acting in a play -- may be part of the cure.