Attorney and Carbon County state representative candidate Neil Makhija held a short press conference outside the county courthouse on Wednesday, seeking to raise awareness about the current opioid epidemic.

On International Overdose Awareness Day, Makhija invited two speakers with experience in the subject, Sheriff Tony Harvilla and local resident Sandy Peters, to speak about the crisis."The criminalization of addiction is ruining our communities," said Peters, whose daughter experienced issues with addiction and overdose. "My loved one, like many other loved ones here in Carbon County, needed treatment and counseling. We need new solutions because the current system has failed us.""Too many people in our county prison are suffering from opioid addiction and the need for treatment could not be more clear," Harvilla said.Makhija referenced his plan to combat the addiction issue by focusing largely on treatment for addicts and the implementation of drug courts."Drug courts would help us treat this like the health problem it actually is," he said. "It's a supervised method that ensures they're getting treatment, getting on the road to recovery, and finding opportunity and employment. A lot of other counties have tried it, and it's really helped people get out of the addiction cycle."Interacting with people who have experienced the turmoils of addiction, a largely unrepresented group, is a key part of the issue."People invite you in their homes, and tell you how they struggled and dealt with this. It's more than you could ever imagine if you don't engage in the process," he said.Makhija said one of the biggest issues for combating drug problems and addiction lies in funding."There's a lot of federal and state money available, and we have to prepare and get it. We need to have leaders who are prioritizing, who have the courage to get the revenue," he said.State Rep. Doyle Heffley contests that obtaining funding is not the primary issue, but he does concur that the problem needs to be addressed."We're facing the biggest public health crisis in our lifetime," Heffley said.Heffley said that money is available in the budget to help establish or supplement drug recovery programs, but that it is necessary to allocate the funds to successful programs."We need to encourage avenues to recovery. We need to ensure we're getting the money to the programs that work," he said.Heffley also referenced his previous work to combat the opioid epidemic, including working with local agencies, establishing a task force in Harrisburg, focusing on education at local schools, and participating in the drug and alcohol expo for the past four years. He stressed that this problem is not partisan in nature, and should be treated as such."We need to focus on the issue, and not play politics," Heffley said.Regardless of political stance, at least both candidates can acknowledge the issue at hand, and the necessity for action."I've spent hours of every day, week and month talking to voters in the neighborhoods I grew up in. It's really a tragedy to see the problems of addiction in every community," Makhija said. We need to commemorate the day, and we need to make something happen in Carbon County."