On Tuesday the American Civil Liberties Union hosted a meeting about the Opioid epidemic at the Lansing public Media Center.

The meeting consisted of a panel of five Ingham county experts who addressed the opioid epidemic in the United States. The panel’s moderator was Ingham County Commissioner Sarah Anthony. The panel had: Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth, Prosecuting Attorney Carol Siemon, Chief Judge Donald Allen, Health Officer of the Ingham County Health department Linda Vail and anesthesiologist Dr. Michael Mullins.

The meeting was a conversation about how the community should be reacting to the epidemic.

“I think everybody in the crowd today and the panel has a lot more power than we think to help people from being addicts and what I mean by that is: these pills are everywhere,” Wrigglesworth said.

Dr. Mullins affirmed that addiction should be treated as a disease instead of a crime.

“[We need to be] looking at addiction as a chronic brain disease, not a character flaw and a moral failure,” Vail said.

A new attitude about addiction is what the panel hopes will eventually control the opioid epidemic.

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