Governor Hassan's Statement on White House Announcement of Additional Resources to Fight Heroin Crisis

Statement

After the White House Drug Policy Office announced additional federal support for public health-public safety partnerships to combat heroin trafficking and strengthen treatment and prevention efforts, Governor Maggie Hassan issued the following statement:

"We must work together across party lines at the state, federal and local levels every day to combat the heroin and substance abuse crisis, and I'm encouraged by the announcement of additional federal funds for our region to help combat heroin trafficking and to strengthen treatment and prevention efforts."

"The federal government's recognition of the importance of treatment and prevention efforts reflects what law enforcement and public health experts in communities across New Hampshire have made clear: that we cannot arrest our way out of the heroin epidemic. That is why I have worked to focus on strengthening treatment, prevention and education by including an additional $5.7 million in my compromise budget proposal and it is why we must reauthorize our bipartisan Medicaid expansion program, which has already provided substance abuse treatment coverage to thousands of Granite Staters.

"While the announcement of additional federal support for New England is an important first step, we must see these resources move as quickly as possible and we will need continued engagement from our federal partners to help combat this pressing public health and safety challenge."

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