Indianapolis Colts players kneeling during the national anthem before their Week 4 match-up against the Seattle Seahawks

The state of Indiana is in the midst of an opioid epidemic and HIV outbreak, however government officials want to focus on getting refunds for people who got offended by Indianapolis Colts players kneeling during the anthem.

Kneeling has been a conversational topic for the past couple of years, as it was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Despite what some believe, the purpose of this action is to protest police brutality towards African-Americans and other racially charged injustices.

State representative Milo Smith is filing a bill that will force the Colts to offer refunds to their fans if players decide to kneel during the national anthem. This comes only a few weeks after a New Orleans Saints fan sued the organization for a refund of his season tickets and attorney’s fees.

Smith claims that he just wants his country to be respected again.

Via IndyStar.com

“To me when they take a knee during the national anthem, it’s not respecting the national anthem or our country,” Smith said.

“Our government isn’t perfect, but it’s still the best country in the world and I think we need to be respectful of it.”

Meanwhile in Indiana, due to their grossly under-funded drug control division reportedly 1 in 20 people in the state are using opioid pain relievers for recreational use. According to the Indiana State Department of Health, fatal overdoses have increased on average 3.5 per cent each year from 2011 to 2015.

This has caused Indiana University’s economic forecast to predict the state to lose $1.25

Opioids were involved in 42,249 deaths in the U.S. in 2016

to $1.8 billion in gross state product due to the lost productivity.

Indiana’s drug czar has said that the $5-million dollars of the state’s money designated for drug prevention is simply not enough. Unfortunately, the state budget can not be modified until 2019 since it runs on a two-year cycle. Indiana University announced it will be granting $50-million dollars towards the opioid crisis in the duration of the next five years, but some say that still isn’t enough.

Via IndyStar.com

“It’s frustrating that we’re still talking and still deciding and not doing,” said Justin Phillips, founder of Overdose Lifeline.

“People are dying.”

In turn, HIV has been a problem in Indiana for years now. In some cases opioid syringes being shared has spread the disease.

At the peak of the epidemic, 22 new cases were being diagnosed each week.

Majority of cases of this illness has come out of a small town in southern Indiana called Austin. In that area, less than ten per cent of residence have a college degree. Alone, Austin has had 190 HIV cases as of last year.

The disease spread got so bad the CDC had to get involved.

Via USA Today

“This is one of the worst documented outbreaks of HIV among IV users in the past two decades,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

“It’s of import to the CDC as well as the people of Indiana.”

However, in the mind of Milo Smith in a time where opioids and HIV are taking over the state of Indiana, he thinks the solution for his state is to silence peaceful protesters.

So much for the First-Amendment.