This weeks show special guest will be John Friend President of City Council.   The Tri-StateVoices show was created by the City County Observer, recorded and edited by Wood and Woods law firm and produced by ME TV TRI-STATE.

The shows host is well known lawyer Mike Woods. The Tri-StateVoices program features current topics and issues of importance to this region.  This public affairs program is  a 30 minutes in length.  The City County Observer and Woods and Woods Tri-StateVoices show will aires on ME TV TRI-STATE  each week at 11:30 am and can viewed on the following TV Channels: Channels 36.1 and 20.1.  WOW 105.  Insight -186  and Time Warner -3 and 14.  If you miss the TRI-STATE VOICES  show on ME TV TRI-STATE you may view it on the City County Observer newly creative “MOLE TV” video channel located on this site.

John Friend is a two time City County  Observer “MOLE AWARD” winner.  Councilman Friend, graduated from the Indiana State University School of Liberal Arts with a degree in Economics and from the School of Business with a degree in Accounting. Friend has achieved much in his career including accreditations as a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst, and as a Chartered Global Management Accountant, affiliated with the AICPA.

Councilman Friend is a member of the American Institution of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts, the Indiana CPA Society and has served as the Vice Chairman of the Leadership Council of the National Association of Independent Business

He serves currently as the President of John Friend & Company, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants- Friend Financial Group.

John Friend serves on the City Council of Evansville, IN as President , is a Board Member of the Southwestern Indiana Regional Council on Aging, and as a Board Member of the Evansville Museum where he has been the Treasurer and a Levy Board Member

Councilman Friend is married to Marty Friend, has three children, four grandchildren and is a member of the Oak Hill Bible Fellowship Church.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined five other state attorneys general today in calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to overturn the recent approval of Zohydro ER.
A pure hydrocodone pill, Zohydro is 5 to 10 times more potent than currently available products like Vicodin or Lortab and is set to hit the market this month. The painkiller’s high potential for abuse prompted attorneys general from Indiana, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Maine to pen a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking her to reverse the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the drug.

In 2011, prescription drugs were blamed for the deaths of 718 Hoosiers, a nearly 10 percent increase from 2010, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

“Zohydro does not contain any abuse-deterrent properties, which means there is a high potential for users to crush, snort or inject this powerful drug,” Zoeller said. “Without the appropriate safeguards, the release of this drug could fuel the nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic and undermine the progress made by so many. I join my colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to use its regulatory authority and overturn the FDA’s decision.”

The FDA approved Zohydro last October despite its own advisory committee voting 11-2 in opposition of the drug being released. In November, Zoeller joined 28 other state attorneys general in asking the FDA to reconsider its approval of the drug. It has been reported that Zohydro can be prescribed in pills ranging from 10 milligrams to as high as 50 milligrams and current hydrocodone products only range from 5 to 10 milligrams.

To combat prescription drug abuse in Indiana, Zoeller established the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force made up of state legislators, law enforcement, members of the medical community, health officials, pharmacists, state and local agencies and education providers. The goal of the task force is to significantly reduce the abuse of prescription drugs and to decrease the number of deaths associated with these drugs in Indiana.

Last year, Zoeller and the task force launched a statewide prescription drug abuse awareness campaign and website, www.BitterPill.IN.gov. The website serves as a one-stop-shop for information about prescription drug abuse and misuse including where to get help