Gov Christie failing to addressing opioid epidemic
Governor Chris Christie is charged with leading the commission on the opioid epidemic crippling communities all over the country. And he’s failing. Go figure the same weed-hating dude who closed the George Washington Bridge stopping traffic for hours to threaten a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse him and closed a beach in New Jersey to everybody aside from himself and his family.
And this is the same weed-hater who refuses to believe that marijuana can help the opioid crisis. States in our nation that have legalized medical marijuana are already touting the early findings of drastic opioid use decreases. According to report published in the journal Health Affairs doctors who live in states where medical marijuana is legal prescribe almost 2,000 fewer doses of painkillers a year. So take that Christie.
Ignoring the fact that as access to medical marijuana goes up opiod use goes down and dragging his feet on research Chrisite has attacked legalization supporters calling them “crazy liberals” who are willing to “poison our kids” for the tax revenue. “They want that blood money? Let them do it,” Christie said sarcastically during an hour-long speech at a conference on substance abuse hosted by the New Jersey Hospital Association in Princeton. “And they will. Let me tell you something — this will be like priority number one come January. I guarantee you, if we have a Democratic governor, it will be priority number one.”
Keep in mind that medical marijuana was legalized in New Jersey eight years ago. It was signed into law just before Christie took office. And since then he’s shown nothing but resistance to legalization. In fact he’s even killed some efforts to expand the medical marijuana program—already one of the most stringent pot programs in the nation.
Indicators of Christie’s failure to lead the nation out of the opoid epidemic? A Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday reveals 7-in-10 New Jersey voters disapprove of the Republican Governor, making him the state leader with the highest unfavorable rating?
It’s not just the nation who’s not a fan of Christie’s work. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and 19 other Democratic senators have openly criticized the commission’s lack of urgency in a recent letter to the White House Office of Drug Control Policy. In it Schumer slams Christie. “The administration and the commission needs to stop dragging its feet on steps that could help save lives. There’s money available, writes Schumer, “the commission is supposed to put the best ways to spend that, and they haven’t done that.”
Christie’s Commission is slated to submit their report on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis Monday, July 31, 2017. So far the commission missed two self appointed deadlines saying that they need more time for more research and data-collecting.
Ninety-one people die each day and every day of an opioid related overdose while we all wait for Christie and his commission to just start doing something. The lack of urgency being demonstrated is more than alarming as families are being decimated and a whole generation of children are being raised without parents. We are looking to you Mr. Christie to help solve an epidemic, focus, please.
How do you think Governor Chris Christie is handling the opioid epidemic in our country? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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