04 August, 2017
The governor of New Hampshire and both of its USA senators blasted President Donald Trump on Thursday for calling the Granite State "a drug-infested den" in the grips of a rampant opioid epidemic.
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, accused Trump of "insulting people in the throes of addiction".
". then [he] should follow through on his promise to Granite Staters to help end this crisis", Shaheen wrote.
"The President is wrong", Sununu said in an emailed statement.
Sununu, the state Legislature, and the congressional delegation have worked on the drug crisis, and pushed to make inroads in terms of prevention, education, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement drug interdiction.
"It's disappointing his mischaracterization of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer", said Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.
The governor also pointed to steps he's taken to address the crisis since taking office. "Our administration inherited one of the worst health crises the state has ever experienced, but we are facing this challenge head on". Both have also been openly critical of a number of Trump's actions during his time as a candidate and since he took office.
Mr Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary in February 2016. For example, no one from New Hampshire has a seat on the White House commission to combat the opioid crisis he launched earlier this year.
"There were one, two, three people who were in crisis today - two of which I was trying to get into detox and treatment", Blevens said, after wrapping up a day at her Manchester studio. "So many are in the room, so many great friends - they said the biggest single problem they have up here is heroin", Trump said at the time.
"We do have a problem, I recognize that and we're working on it", said an older gentleman.
The governor acknowledged the drug scourge had gripped the Granite State.
Various public officials from New Hampshire, meanwhile, responded negatively to the president's reported comments. The state had the most deaths by fentanyl-related overdose per capita.
"I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den", Trump reportedly said. "It is the same thing".
When it comes to overdoses on heroin, New Hampshire is about average compared with the other 49 states. Still, she said, "That's a pretty poor choice of words". "And my cry for desperation, for helping us, was in that letter. He folded it up and put it in his breast pocket, and I have to believe that he read it".
And the New Hampshire government's Drug Monitoring Unit published a report this year showing a dramatic increase in fentanyl-overdose deaths, which rose 23-fold between 2012 and 2016.
"Reach back to the little people, because we have the answers", she said.
