OAN’s Zach Petersen
11:29 AM – Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Voters in New Hampshire want to hear how presidential candidates would address their state’s opioid epidemic.
Heading into next week’s primary, many residents say the issue was put on the forefront of conversation in 2016 but has been put on the back burner since.
45th President Donald Trump once described New Hampshire as a “drug-infested den.” He proposed using the military against drug cartels.
Yet, some believe a different approach is needed to focus on treatment rather than just trying to cut off the supply.
“I honestly just want to see change in people be proactive rather than reactive,” Kristina Amyot, who fought opioid addiction for 18 years, said. “And I feel like every four years it gets talked about and then it gets lost. We don’t really do much with it and that’s something needs to change. Because this should be, like, one of the top priorities. There’re so many people dying. There’s so many people struggling.”
New Hampshire had the second highest drug overdose death rate in the nation.
The state saw a near all-time high of 486 deaths in 2022.
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