Last week it was reported that while speaking to a group of business leaders, Gov. Chris Sununu said, “Our prevention programs for substance abuse in this state? They stink. You can quote me on that.” He also went on to say that substance abuse prevention programs are “incredibly weak” during the same remarks.
As someone who has worked for years on substance abuse issues in New Hampshire, I am appalled at the callousness and carelessness that Gov. Sununu showed by making a statement like this.
We all know there’s a substance abuse epidemic going on. We all know that we have to do more to combat and turn the tide on opioid abuse in this state. But we will get nowhere if we have a governor who denigrates the hard work being done every day by selfless individuals trying to improve our prevention, treatment and recovery programs here in New Hampshire.
For six years, I served on the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Recovery. This commission brings together substance abuse professionals along with policy makers across state government to help identify ways we can increase our efforts and make recommendations to the governor on how to best implement increased efforts. It is a collaborative process that works because people work together to solve problems that make a difference not spout emotional rhetoric that goes nowhere.
If Gov. Sununu wants to insult the efforts being made by hard-working, dedicated substance abuse professionals and the challenges they face in addressing the opioid crisis, the least he could do is meet with the commission that bears his name to get better informed.
And if Gov. Sununu really does think that our prevention efforts “stink” and are “weak,” maybe he should put forth funding rather than needlessly attack those in the trenches every day.
The aforementioned Governor’s Commission issues a report every year with recommendations to improve our state’s prevention, treatment, and recovery services. The 2016 report contained many recommendations but also identified two key funding requests that would help implement the recommendations.
The first funding request was to fully fund the Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Treatment Fund, which would provide $19.1 million toward substance abuse services over the next two years. Unfortunately, Gov. Sununu’s budget shortchanges these efforts by funding these services only at two-thirds of what the commission recommended. The least he could do is fully fund our prevention efforts before insulting them.
The second area that the commission recommended was to permanently reauthorize the New Hampshire Health Protection Program, which provides insurance coverage of prevention and recovery services and supports our substance abuse treatment infrastructure.
Again, Gov. Sununu has been silent. The successful, bipartisan New Hampshire Health Protection Program has provided coverage for substance abuse services for over 10,000 hard-working Granite Staters since its inception and if Gov. Sununu is serious about improving our prevention efforts, he should come out in support of this program as soon as possible.
Gov. Sununu also said, “If you’re a teacher right now or a principal and you want a substance abuse program, good luck trying to find out who to call at the state level.”
Again, I was shocked to hear this come from our governor, who oversees our state agencies and is responsible for making sure that they can do their jobs. Last year, the Legislature passed SB 369, which instructed all our state public schools to provide drug and alcohol education and ensure that our schools provided students with information on counseling and treatment options.
I would hope that if Gov. Sununu was looking for who to call at the state level, he would start with his controversial pick for Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut. We all agree that prevention efforts are essential and need to continue to reach all our students, and I hope that the governor and Commissioner Edelblut get to work implementing the laws the Legislature passed as soon as possible.
There’s no doubt that we have a lot of work to do to combat and ultimately turn the tide on the opioid crisis. But we won’t get anywhere with grandstanding and aimless finger-pointing.
The last thing we need in the midst of this epidemic is to retreat to our corners and blame others for our problems. We need a more constructive dialogue than the one Gov. Sununu is providing, and I urge him to take a step back, take a deep breath, and work with our hard-working substance abuse professionals to get the job done.
(Former Sen. Molly Kelly represented the people of District 10 in the New Hampshire Senate from 2006 to 2016. She lives in Harrisville and is the acting director of the AUNE Center for Civic Engagement in Keene.)