INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana residents are more likely to die from a drug overdose than they are a car crash.
That statistic was offered by Indiana University officials Tuesday when they joined Gov. Eric Holcomb at the Statehouse to announce a new effort funded by $50 million in university money to fight opioid abuse.
Opiate abuse has spiked across much of the country, but Indiana's problem is particularly acute. Officials say Indiana is one of four states where overdose deaths have more than quadrupled since 1999.
IU plans to use the money and its academic expertise to help collect data on the scope of the problem, train health care workers and craft better public policy.
Holcomb has made fighting the opioid epidemic a cornerstone of his agenda.
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