INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): Finding ways to curb prescription drug abuse was the focus of the attorney general‘s annual symposium Friday.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller has hosted the Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium for the last five years, and he says the theme this year is “Reversing The Tide of Opioid Abuse” – opioids include morphine and hydrocodone.

“We bring large groups together – the facility (at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis) holds 800, and each year we‘ve exceeded capacity,” Zoeller said. Indiana‘s Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force grew out of the initial symposium, Zoeller said, and it includes sessions for doctors and pharmacists. “They talk about everything from the addictive qualities, how they are trying to wean themselves off the drugs and how they get addicted to begin with,” Zoeller said.

“For too long, doctors were so worried about trying to eliminate all pain that they may have overmedicated. Again, it‘s not because they intended to, but because the addictive quality was not fully understood or appreciated.”

Law enforcement will also be on hand, as well as state lawmakers who will host a panel discussion on laws that can be passed to combat prescription abuse, “so that we can work on a solution in a common effort as opposed to everyone doing something separately,” Zoeller said.