Mayor, Former Addicts Take On Drug Problem

(Rising Sun, Ind.) - Ohio County residents worried that drugs are an increasing problem in the community are doing something about it.

Some of the Believers Against the Abuse of Alcohol and Drugs members are former drug addicts looking to keep others on the right path. Ryan McAlister once fell into addiction after suffering a back injury and taking prescription painkillers at the age of 23.

“It took me to a life I don’t want anyone to go down. That’s why I’m being a part of this, because it can happen to anybody and it’s not worth it,” McAlister said.

It was McAlister’s mother who helped him take the first steps towards breaking the addiction when she called the police on him.

“I went from Vicodin to Oxycontin. At the later part of my addiction I hit heroin. Within five months of hitting heroin I landed in jail,” he said, adding that was when his life had hit rock bottom.

McAlister is now working with BAAAD to communicate to Ohio County’s youth that drugs are a real danger.

The community problem will take community solutions, however. That’s why Rising Sun Mayor Branden Roeder is also a BAAAD member.

“We’re trying to let everybody know out there that there is a problem,” said Roeder. “The biggest thing around southeastern Indiana right now is heroin. A lot of people get started on pain pills and then they cannot afford the pain pills because they are $60 to $70 a pop. The next thing since they can’t afford it is they go to the cheaper version which is heroin.”

The group first formed about six months ago through the Rising Sun First Baptist Church. The nonprofit organization has only grown since.

“We’ve got a lot more people in the community involved in this. We get 60 to 70 a meeting. People from other churches and other communities are coming down to check this out,” Roeder said.

Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard has become involved with the effort, Roeder said, with the idea that BAAAD could expand its message to other areas of southeast Indiana.

While faith-based, BAAAD is open to anybody who wants to join. The group meets every other Sunday at the Rising Sun First Baptist Church. Their next meeting is Sunday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m.

More information on the group can be found on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baaad-Believers-Against-the-Abuse-of-Alcohol-and-Drugs/340396595990296?sk=wall.