The opioid epidemic across the country continues to grow, and the Christian County Board recognizes the issue here at home. The county board passed a resolution declaring the unlawful distribution of prescription controlled substances has created a serious public health and safety hazard in the county. Christian County is the third county in the state to make this resolution.

Christian County State’s Attorney Mike Havera says the crisis is depleting valuable local and county resources that are already hard to come by.

Havera says part of the reason opioids have become such a big problem is because prescription wholesalers have never reported spikes in opioid prescription sales to the government as required by law. With the resolution, Christian County will be joining in lawsuits against these wholesalers for damages caused from the epidemic. Havera says money recovered from these lawsuits could be substantial, and the county has lagged behind in facilities to combat the opioid epidemic.

Havera says the county will only pay the law firm representing the county in these cases on a contigency basis, or if the county wins the case. So it will come at no cost to the county. Havera says the wholesalers not reporting the problem has put counties across the United States in an unfair position of combatting the problem without the resources to do so.