This year New Hampshire has been hard hit with the opioid epidemic. Town after town, county after county, families are being torn apart, losing their loved ones to overdoses. It is my belief that Gov. Hassan has been diligent in her efforts to find a solution to this crisis, however Mayor Gatsas has done nothing other than complain about the way she is handling this destructive enemy. Gatsas, with his bid for Hassan’s job, has been rambling on and on, questioning our governor’s decisions.
A day late, now comes forward Gatsas with a nine-page report on how he is going to fight our opioid epidemic, with promises to have “safe houses” in every single community in New Hampshire. I don’t believe any one of us has an answer for the solution. Ultimately, the addict is going to decide when he or she has had enough.
A couple of years ago, at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, two emergency room employees were savagely attacked by a mentally unstable individual. One month or so ago, two Manchester police officers were shot and wounded while in pursuit of another mentally challenged person. My thoughts: Manchester has many problems – a growing crime rate, poverty and a great number of mentally ill in the community.
If Gatsas would pay more attention to “his” city, and not to Hassan’s agendas, just maybe the workers at Elliot would not have been attacked. And just maybe, if Gatsas had paid more attention to his city’s problems, those two officers would not have gotten shot.
Gary Roy
Concord
(The writer is an inmate at the New Hampshire State Prison.)