Is christie's new opioid fight sincere or is it a stepping stone to becoming drug czar

Is Christie’s New Opioid Fight Sincere or is it a Stepping Stone to Becoming Drug Czar

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1 min read
October 5, 2017

TRENTON-Governor Chris Christie sat back and watched New Jersey’s heroin epidemic spiral out of control for 7 of his first 8 years in office, but in the past year, the governor has shown a sudden interest in helping New Jersey’s addicted and dying.

Some insiders in the New Jersey GOP establishment feel the Governor’s push is focused more on his career after his term expires this year and not so much on actually helping drug addicts recover.

“Is he sincere, yes, probably, but where was he all of these years when the death toll climbed?” asked a GOP insider who requested to remain anonymous.  “The U.S. is currently without a drug czar. The talk radio thing was an apparent flop, so this is obviously plan b for the governor.  I hope it is a sincere effort and not just another Trenton style program of throwing money around to put on a good show. What’s he going to do with himself after 2017?”

After being passed up by the Trump administration for a cabinet position this year, Christie was selected to head the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

In 2014 Christie set up a task force in New Jersey to start the fight against Opioid addiction.  That year 28,648 people died in New Jersey from substance abuse and overdoses.

Christie’s interest in the opioid epidemic grew after he announced that a family friend who had become addicted to opioid drugs after a back injury back in the fall of 2015.

At the time Christie said the person’s death was caused by their addiction.

Photo a recent visit by the Governor with ReachNJ partners the New York Jets for the Kick-off Against Youth Opioid Addiction in East Rutherford.

 

Phil Stilton

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