INDIANAPOLIS — Alisha Ladyga was 16 when she first tried and became addicted to OxyContin in the early 2000s, years before the opioid crisis swept the nation. During the peak of the epidemic in her hometown of Huntington, Indiana, she said nearly everyone she knew was using drugs.
“People were overdosing left and right,” Ladyga said. “Most of the people that I had grew up with have either passed away from opiates during that time, from overdose, or they’re in prison.”
Ladyga, 39, has been in recovery for 11 years. She began the process at 26, when she was given a 25-year prison sentence with 18 years to serve behind bars.
Hoosiers like Ladyga are still feeling the effects of the opioid epidemic. When the crisis reached its peak across the state in 2012, there were nearly 112 opioid prescriptions per 100 people, according to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. Since 1999, more than 15,000 Hoosiers have died from opioid-related causes…