GOP candidates seek end to stigma around drug addiction

Associated Press

HOOKSETT, N.H.

Republican presidential hopefuls called for a more- compassionate discussion around drug addiction Tuesday, with emphasis on substance abuse as a curable disease, not a moral failing.

“This is a national calling,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said at the New Hampshire Forum on Addiction and the Heroin Epidemic. “We should be able to talk about this without all the stigma attached to it. We need to eliminate the stigma.”

Home to the nation’s first 2016 presidential primary and a state that’s seen drug deaths skyrocket in recent years, New Hampshire’s prominent place on the campaign calendar has turned drug addiction into a hot-button issue on the campaign trail. Health officials estimate that about 400 people died from overdoses in New Hampshire in 2015 more than doubling its own rate of overdose deaths in 2013.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and technology executive Carly Fiorina spoke about how frequently they meet people on the trail in New Hampshire who share their struggles with addiction or talk about family members who lost their lives to drugs. Both have deeply personal experiences with addiction, which they spoke about Tuesday. Fiorina’s stepdaughter died from an overdose in 2009, while Bush’s daughter has struggled with addiction.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich admitted he has “no clue” what it’s like to fight addiction, but said that no one is too far gone to save. He said he’s come to understand the issue more deeply during his tenure as governor of Ohio as people shared their stories about addiction.

Chris Christie pointed to his record as governor of New Jersey focusing on treatment over incarceration for nonviolent offenders. He said it is incumbent upon the country’s next president to use the bully pulpit to address drug addiction in a meaningful way.