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—including heroin and the powerful opiate fentanyl—more than doubling its own rate of overdose deaths in 2013.
Candidates have taken to visiting a peer-recovery center in Manchester, attending drug roundtables at local hospitals and sharing stories they hear on the trail from New Hampshire voters battling addiction. 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 on Tuesday. Fiorina’s step-daughter died from a drug overdose in 2009, while Bush’s daughter has struggled with addiction.
“The pain that you feel when you have a loved one who has addiction challenges and spirals out of control is something that I share with a whole lot of people,” Bush told the crowd after sharing an emotional reflection on his daughter’s history with drugs.
