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Opioids NH
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Baker: Stop blame game on opioids
Mar 3, 2017 | The Lowell Sun
By Matt Murphy
Gov. Charlie Baker called for finger-pointing to stop after another New England governor -- this time New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu -- tried this week to blame the city of Lawrence for his state's opioid crisis and ignited a war of words between the neighbors. "I do view this as a problem that affects us all and I think singling out a single community or a single state is just not accurate and it doesn't represent what the vast majority of us believe to be the case," Baker told reporters in Boston on Thursday in response to Sununu. -
Drug crisis sparks border war of words
Mar 2, 2017 | Boston Globe
By Nestor Ramos
Another New England governor is laying the blame for his state’s drug problem on Lawrence, sparking a border war of words with the city’s mayor. In a speech in Manchester and in a Boston radio interview on Wednesday, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said nearly all of the powerful opioid fentanyl that is making its way into the Granite State is coming from the small city just across his state’s southern border. -
Gov. Sununu Blames Lawrence For New Hampshire’s Opioid Crisis (AUDIO CLIP)
Mar 2, 2017 | CBS Boston
By Beth Germano
It became a heated war of words between Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu who blames the city for being an opioid pipeline to the Granite State. “Eighty-five percent of fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Guess what? We’re going in,” Sununu told a group of New Hampshire business leaders this week. -
After fingerpointing, New England politicians focus on opioid crisis
Mar 2, 2017 | Associated Press
By Kathleen Ronayne
A Massachusetts mayor and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu now say they’re willing to work together to fight the region’s drug crisis after trading a series of criticisms about each other’s actions. -
Updated: Sununu moves to defuse cross-border skirmish over opioid crisis (VIDEO)
Mar 2, 2017 | WMUR
By John DiStaso and KC Downey
Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday afternoon moved to defuse a cross-border verbal skirmish over efforts to fight the drug crisis, complimenting Lawrence, Mass., officials for their efforts after he spoke on the telephone with Mayor Daniel Rivera. -
Sununu blames Lawrence, Mass., for N.H. drug problem, says prevention programs ‘stink’
Mar 2, 2017 | Concord Monitor
By Ella Nilsen
Gov. Chris Sununu has been talking tough on the opioid crisis, but his latest comments have rankled officials in neighboring Massachusetts, as well as treatment and prevention advocates in New Hampshire. -
Sununu, Rivera call truce in cross-border opiate war
Mar 2, 2017 | Eagle Tribune
By Keith Eddings
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Mayor Daniel Rivera reached a quick and peaceful settlement in their interstate war of words over Sununu's allegation that the city is fueling New England's opiate crisis. -
After Blaming Lawrence For N.H.'s Opioid Problem, Gov. Sununu Urges Collaboration (AUDIO)
Mar 2, 2017 | WBUR 90.9
By Deborah Becker
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday that he's eager to work with Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera battling the opioid epidemic. That's after Sununu blamed Lawrence Wednesday night for much of the opioid problem in his state. -
Sununu Finds Himself in Cross-Border Fight With Massachusetts Officials on Opioid Crisis
Mar 2, 2017 | NHPR
By Paige Sutherland
Governor Chris Sununu is getting attention for his recent claims that the city of Lawrence, Mass., is the main source of fentanyl hitting New Hampshire. -
NH governor blames Lawrence for state's opiate problem
Mar 2, 2017 | Fox 25 Boston
The governor of New Hampshire is blaming Massachusetts for his state's opiate problem. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu claimed 85-percent of the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl is coming from the city of Lawrence. -
Sununu, Mass. mayor bury hatchet after row over sanctuary city comments
Mar 2, 2017 | New Hampshire Union Leader
By Dave Solomon
The mayor of Lawrence, Mass., fired back at Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday, after the governor identified the Bay State city as the primary source of illegal drugs coming into New Hampshire and threatened direct intervention. -
Lawrence mayor: 'Disappointed' by Sununu’s 'rash' comments on drug crisis
Mar 2, 2017 | WCVB ABC
One day after Gov. Chris Sununu said the majority of the drugs flowing into New Hampshire are coming from Lawrence, Massachusetts, the city’s mayor told WMUR he was "disappointed" in the governor’s comments. -
FOX 25 News at 5
Mar 2, 2017 | FOX Boston
View clip here: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/26321701?token=db316a0d-9d74-4ddb-b7f4-7c6841de7c54 -
WMTW News 8
Mar 2, 2017 | ABC Porgland, ME
View clip here: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/26321821?token=db316a0d-9d74-4ddb-b7f4-7c6841de7c54 -
Editorial: Confusion over liability in opioid crisis threatens to punish patients in pain
Mar 2, 2017 | The Buffalo News
By Editorial Board
The opioid crisis is a complex and confounding problem trailing social, psychological, legal and medical entanglements. In treating it, doctors, lawyers and politicians must hew to the ancient maxim: First, do no harm. Something went awry in recent communications between government leaders and the medical community, creating confusion and worry among some physicians that appropriately caring for patients in severe pain could result in criminal charges. It’s not true, those government leaders say, but somehow, it was the message received. For the sake of people suffering pain that may be unbearable, those leaders need to ensure the point is clear.
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Baker: Stop blame game on opioids
Mar 3, 2017 | The Lowell Sun
By Matt Murphy
Gov. Charlie Baker called for finger-pointing to stop after another New England governor -- this time New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu -- tried this week to blame the city of Lawrence for his state's opioid crisis and ignited a war of words between the neighbors.
"I do view this as a problem that affects us all and I think singling out a single community or a single state is just not accurate and it doesn't represent what the vast majority of us believe to be the case," Baker told reporters in Boston on Thursday in response to Sununu.
Sununu started the dust-up Wednesday when he went before the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and claimed that 85 percent of the fentanyl in New Hampshire came "straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts."
The new Republican governor later went on Boston Herald Radio and took aim at Lawrence's status as a so-called sanctuary city: "So you have undocumented drug dealers that are dealing these drugs, they are getting arrested, they are being given bail by judges ... they're jumping bail, getting a new ID and they're back in that same home dealing drugs a week later. It's an absolutely crazy system," he said.
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera fired back on Thursday, saying his police department has worked hard to make the city "an inhospitable place to buy and sell drugs." He said that since Aug. 15 police had turned over five people to the federal government who were in the country illegally and committed crimes.
"I don't think he understands what he's talking about," Rivera said.
It's not the first time a governor of another New England state has tried to blame on Bay State cities with heavy immigrant populations for their heroin, fentanyl and opioid addiction problems.
Last summer at a conference in Boston, Maine Gov. Paul LePage said black and Hispanic drug dealers from Lawrence and Lowell, Waterbury, Conn., and Brooklyn and the Bronx were to blame for peddling opioids in his state.
Baker said the opioid epidemic is a national problem with no one source of illegal drugs.
"That's driven by a lot of things, but I believe that the root cause of most of that was driven by the causal attitude that the medical community put toward writing prescriptions for opioids that they didn't fully appreciate or understand," Baker said.
At a meeting of New England governors over the weekend in Washington, Baker previously told the News Service that the discussion of fentanyl ate up over half their time together, though he said Thursday that Sununu did not raise his concerns about Lawrence or "sanctuary cities" in Massachusetts during the meeting.
Sununu told the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, however, that he had put the other governors in the region on notice. "I sat down with Charlie Baker and all the governors from the New England regions and said we're going to cross borders, you better get ready. I'm working with the DEA in Bedford, working with the DEA in Boston, our state police, their state police," Sununu said, according NH1.
Baker said the governors discussed many avenues from which drugs were entering their states.
"I don't think it's helpful to be pointing fingers. I think we should work on this stuff together," Baker said.
According to Baker, LePage spoke about his efforts to work with the Coast Guard to intercept small ships bringing drugs to shore after picking up the cargo from large shipping vessels in the Gulf of Maine.
Gov. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut talked about a highway from New York City, and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott spoke about drug trafficking routes through the Pioneer Valley into his state.
"My point is there are a lot of different paths that illegal drugs travel all over this country and up the eastern seaboard and a lot of of directions they come from and we all said we need to work together as a community to deal with this," Baker said
Sununu and Rivera ultimately spoke by phone on Thursday, and Sununu's office issued a statement calling the opioid crisis "the most serious public health and safety issue" facing New Hampshire and New England.
"The mayor and his local law-enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on this issue, but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions," Sununu said in the statement. "It has no geographic boundaries and it remains incumbent upon all of us to come together and work collaboratively across our borders along with federal, state, and local law enforcement. I am encouraged by my conversation with the Mayor and have invited him to join me in developing a plan that will find solutions to this problem in both of our communities."
FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday at an opioid summit in Virginia said Mexican drug cartels were behind an influx of "highly, highly pure" heroin to the United States that's being sold cheaply to people already addicted to prescription painkillers.
Comey said the FBI's mission is to reduce the supply in order to drive up the cost of heroin on the street and make it less attractive for those addicted to painkillers to switch to heroin. "We cannot arrest our way out of this problem," Comey said, according to Fox News.
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Drug crisis sparks border war of words
Mar 2, 2017 | Boston Globe
By Nestor Ramos
Another New England governor is laying the blame for his state’s drug problem on Lawrence, sparking a border war of words with the city’s mayor.
In a speech in Manchester and in a Boston radio interview on Wednesday, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said nearly all of the powerful opioid fentanyl that is making its way into the Granite State is coming from the small city just across his state’s southern border.
“Eighty-five percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts,” Sununu told a gathering of business leaders Wednesday morning, video of the event shows, though he provided no source for the claim.
Sununu said law enforcement would cross state lines to keep drug dealers — some of whom he said were in the country illegally — out of New Hampshire.
“We’re going across borders,” Sununu said he’d told fellow governors from around New England, including Governor Charlie Baker. “You better get ready.” Sununu said he’d been working with state and federal law enforcement agencies on the issue.
At a news conference in Lawrence on Thursday, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera criticized Sununu for oversimplifying the drug problem that is raging in many areas of the region and across the country.
“The reality is, it’s a really complicated problem. Lawrence isn’t the basis of the problem. The users in Manchester aren’t the basis of the problem,” Rivera said. “I don’t think he understands what he’s talking about.”
In August, Maine Governor Paul LePage made a similar claim, contending that Maine’s drugs were coming to the state via black and Hispanic dealers from Lawrence and Lowell, along with cities in Connecticut and New York.
While New Hampshire and Maine are among the whitest states in the nation, Lawrence — less than a mile from the New Hampshire border and just 30 miles from Manchester — is majority Hispanic.
LePage’s comments, and their invocation of race, earned a rebuke from Rivera, who accused LePage of making “boogeymen out of people that look different” and criticized LePage’s opposition to increased addiction treatment.
A Massachusetts State Police spokesman said he could not confirm Sununu’s statistical claims about the source of New Hampshire’s fentanyl, and didn’t know where the number came from.
Lawrence’s struggle with the drug trade is well documented. The city and its surrounding areas are a “source of significant trafficking of heroin and fentanyl that entered the United States from Central America,” State Police spokesman David Procopio said in an e-mail. But so are many other cities, he added, and “the buying and selling of narcotics knows no geographic or socio-economic boundaries.”
Procopio said the department is not aware of any New Hampshire police officers conducting narcotics operations in Massachusetts, or of any plans for such a program. A Sununu spokesman did not return a message seeking clarification about the governor’s plan to have law enforcement cross state borders, or his claim that he’d been working with the Massachusetts State Police.
“Guess what? We’re going in,” Sununu said during his speech, according to video from New Hampshire television station WMUR. “We’re going to get tough on these guys, and I want to scare every dealer that wants to come across that border.”
But New Hampshire police cannot arrest people in Massachusetts unless they’re part of a federal task force, Procopio said in the e-mail. Local, state, and federal agencies do work together and share information across New England, he said, through programs such as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
In a statement, Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick said law enforcement in the region already work together on drug crime.
“The drug and opioid epidemic affects every city and town in this country. Here in Lawrence, we work closely — and have worked closely for decades — with our law enforcement partners in major cities across New England, including Boston and Manchester, N.H., to aggressively enforce the drug laws and stem the flow of drugs into communities,” Fitzpatrick said.
Thursday afternoon, Rivera and Sununu spoke by phone.
“The Mayor and his local law enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on this issue, but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions,” Sununu said in a statement. “It has no geographic boundaries and it remains incumbent upon all of us to come together and work collaboratively across our borders along with federal, state, and local law enforcement.”
Rivera, in his own news release, called their discussion productive, and said he invited Sununu to visit Lawrence to see what the city and its police department are doing to combat opioid addiction. Rivera said Sununu told him the 85 percent figure was “what law enforcement was telling him.”
In remarks to reporters on Thursday, Baker called the opioid epidemic a national problem that New England governors discuss every time they meet. As a result, states now collaborate on prescription monitoring programs.
“I think singling out a single community or a single state is not accurate,” Baker said. “And it doesn’t represent what the vast majority of us believe to be the case.”
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Gov. Sununu Blames Lawrence For New Hampshire’s Opioid Crisis (AUDIO CLIP)
Mar 2, 2017 | CBS Boston
By Beth Germano
It became a heated war of words between Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu who blames the city for being an opioid pipeline to the Granite State.
“Eighty-five percent of fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Guess what? We’re going in,” Sununu told a group of New Hampshire business leaders this week.
“I’m not sure he meant to threaten the sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but he did,” said Rivera.
Sununu has also questioned the decision by Lawrence to become a sanctuary city, claiming it’s harboring illegal aliens who are dealing drugs and then getting off easy in the courts.
“Undocumented drug dealers are dealing drugs, getting arrested and they’re being given bail by judges,” Sununu told Boston Herald Radio. “I can’t understand how they’re getting bail from the judges in Massachusetts.”
Rivera says Lawrence is not alone in battling the opioid crisis. Deanna Cruz with the Lawrence-Methuen Community Coalition says it’s a stigma that’s a disservice to those who are addicted. “When people hear those statements that stigmatize their use they feel it is some fault of their own, that they’re not good enough to access treatment, and not good enough to seek treatment,” Cruz said.
Mayor Rivera says he reached out twice to the Governor’s office trying to speak with him and finally had a conversation Thursday. In what appeared to be an olive branch Governor Sununu said in a statement, “I am encouraged by my conversation with the mayor and have invited him to join me in developing a plan that will find solutions to this problem in both of our communities.”
Rivera invited the governor to come to Lawrence and see what efforts the city is making. “We’re trying really hard to make Lawrence an inhospitable place to buy and sell drugs,” Rivera said.
Listen to clip here: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/03/02/nh-governer-chris-sununu-lawrence-sanctuary-city-opioid-crisis/
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After fingerpointing, New England politicians focus on opioid crisis
Mar 2, 2017 | Associated Press
By Kathleen Ronayne
A Massachusetts mayor and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu now say they’re willing to work together to fight the region’s drug crisis after trading a series of criticisms about each other’s actions.
Sununu, a Republican, sparked the short feud Wednesday night by saying Lawrence, Massachusetts, was the main source of drugs flowing into New Hampshire and pledging to “get tough” on dealers across state lines. Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, a Democrat, called the comments disappointing and accused Sununu of pointing fingers instead of finding solutions.
Following a phone conversation Thursday afternoon, both men said they’d like to work together to combat the heroin and drug trade.
“The mayor and his local law enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on this issue, but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions,” Sununu said in a statement.
Rivera agreed the two could work together, even inviting Sununu to visit Lawrence. But he maintained his criticism that Sununu’s tone and initial comments were counterproductive.
“I encouraged him to review the tape of his comments and to see how it came off,” Rivera said in a statement. “It appeared that he was sending a warning that he was coming for Lawrence.”
Sununu isn’t the first New England governor to accuse Lawrence, a city of many immigrants, of fueling the region’s drug crisis. Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, last year said black and Hispanic drug dealers from Lawrence and Lowell were trafficking drugs into his state. New Hampshire Attorney General Joe Foster, a Democrat, said Thursday that most of the fentanyl and heroin entering the state is indeed from Lawrence.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, said Thursday that the opioid epidemic is a regional and national problem and it would be wrong to single out any community or state.
“I don’t think it’s helpful to be pointing fingers. I think we should work on this stuff together,” Baker said.
Rivera didn’t dispute the city has a drug problem and said 23 new police officers will be added over the next three years. But he suggested New Hampshire could be doing more to help struggling addicts and said Sununu lacks the facts to back up his claims.
In a Wednesday radio interview, Sununu also targeted a policy that makes Lawrence similar to a sanctuary city. The city’s policy, passed in 2015, says local law enforcement shouldn’t ask about immigration status if a major crime hasn’t been committed. Sununu said judges are letting drug-dealing immigrants out on bail who are in the country illegally, allowing them to change their names and keep dealing. His office didn’t provide a source of those claims.
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Updated: Sununu moves to defuse cross-border skirmish over opioid crisis (VIDEO)
Mar 2, 2017 | WMUR
By John DiStaso and KC Downey
Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday afternoon moved to defuse a cross-border verbal skirmish over efforts to fight the drug crisis, complimenting Lawrence, Mass., officials for their efforts after he spoke on the telephone with Mayor Daniel Rivera.
But the governor's office has not produced evidence to back up Sununu's claim at a Wednesday morning meeting with business leaders that "85 percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence."
Rivera said that in a telephone conversation at mid-day, Sununu told him he did not mean to impugn Lawrence.
"He also said the statistics he used was what law enforcement was telling him," Rivera said.
The mayor also said he told Sununu, "He should be more thoughtful and measured with his statements. They have serious implications."
Earlier, at hastily-called news conference prior to the telephone call, Rivera harshly responded to Sununu's claim, calling on the New Hampshire chief executive to back it up with data.
Rivera also complained prior to their call that Sununu had not returned two of his calls to talk about the comments.
Sununu called Rivera shortly after the mayor's news conference, and afterwards, Sununu issued the following statement:
“It is no secret that the opiate crisis is the most serious public health and safety issue facing New Hampshire and the neighboring states across New England. This afternoon I spoke with Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera. The mayor and his local law enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on this issue, but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions.
"It has no geographic boundaries and it remains incumbent upon all of us to come together and work collaboratively across our borders along with federal, state and local law enforcement. I am encouraged by my conversation with the mayor and have invited him to join me in developing a plan that will find solutions to this problem in both of our communities.”
Sununu spokesman David Abrams did not respond to WMUR's request that the governor's office cite the source of Sununu's claim. The spokesman also declined to elaborate on the governor's written statement.
Later Thursday, Rivers said in his separate statement that during their conversation, "I encouraged him to review the tape of his comments and to see how it came off. It appeared that he was sending a warning that he was coming for Lawrence."
"We discussed his desire to deal with his state's opioid addiction problem and that he wanted to focus more resources and energy on enforcement," Rivera said. "I invited him to come to Lawrence to see what we are doing here on that front. I ensured him that the Lawrence Police Department is doing all that they can to make Lawrence an inhospitable place to buy and sell drugs ... I am hopeful he will come to Lawrence and see for himself."
Rivera said he conveyed to Sununu "that we cannot we cannot arrest our way out of this problem. We need to discuss how many long-term, inpatient and outpatient, six- to nine-month treatment beds and programs they have in New Hampshire and in Massachusetts, and how we can increase them."
The mayor also said he told the governor, "No one jurisdiction can deal with this matter alone, and for us to start pointing fingers at each other is counterproductive. I do look forward to talking to him about how we can better work together."
Rejects Sununu's '85 percent' claim
Earlier, Rivera told reporters he did not believe that his city is the source of 85 percent of the fentanyl brought into New Hampshire.
"You know how incredibly high 85 percent is? I want to know what the baseline number is. Out of how many? Of what universe? I think he was trying to make a point for effect," Rivera said.
“It would be very easy for me to point the finger back at the governor and the people of New Hampshire, but that's the trap. It should be like, 'How do we come together to deal with this thing?'”
Rivera -- a Democrat and son of a single mother who emigrated from the Dominican Republic -- said he called Sununu on Wednesday after learning of the governor's charge, and then called him again on Thursday. He said Sununu’s office eventually scheduled a phone call between the two officials for Thursday afternoon.
"He made a big statement about my community, and I think he'd give me at least the decency of a return call," he said.
View Rivera's official biography here.
"I give statistics that I can give you stats on. I know it's in vogue to talk about stuff and not really have in hand statistics," he said.
Calling Republican Sununu “a really smart guy,” but noting that the governor has been in office for only 60 days, Rivera said, “He should have called me yesterday. It took two calls for me to get an appointment to get on his schedule for him to call me.”
Rivera said Lawrence "does a ton of work on the enforcement side," including adding 23 police officers by the end of 2017. But he said the problem is nationwide.
Sununu’s comments were “incredibly distracting for the work that we have to do here in the city every day,” he said.
"I wish the president and governors would take a little more time to think about what they're saying before they go out and say these things," Rivera said. "I'm a little bit disappointed in Governor Sununu's comments. He's a really smart guy from all I know about him. He comes from a really great family.
"You'd think he might have called us about something kind of big."
Rivera: 'What does he know?'
Responding to Sununu’s comments that "we're going in" and New Hampshire will send law enforcement across the border to battle the drug problem, Rivera said, “I'm not sure he meant to threaten the sovereignty of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but he did.”
"These borders have been there forever -- since we were colonies. But the drugs don't identify those borders, the users don't identify those borders."
Rivera said he does not believe that Sununu meant to suggest that New Hampshire state troopers will be coming into his city. "But it came off like that."
Sununu also said in a Wednesday radio interview that there should be tougher sentencing in Massachusetts, citing Lawrence's "sanctuary city" status and charging that illegal immigrants are helping to bring drugs across the border into the Granite State.
"He's the governor of New Hampshire. What does he know?" Rivera countered.
Calls for more long-term treatment
Rivera said there should be more long-term beds for treatment.
Discussion about treatment focuses on prescription drugs and professional care, "but I'm not hearing about new beds for six- and nine-month treatment -- out-patient treatment, in-patient treatment.
"As soon as I get the governor on the phone, I'm going to challenge his claim that they're doing OK with treatment," Rivera said. "I think the treatment community in New Hampshire would beg to differ with him on that. And I bet him 100 bucks that he could probably use more long-term beds."
Rivera said putting people in jail is not the entire solution.
"I know it sounds cool," he said. "I know everybody wants to be like the president and just be out there riffing and being loud and rambunctious, but that's not how you make public policy. And just like the president is finding out that health care is complicated, I think the governor is going to find out that this is a complicated issue."
"I know how to make a quick political comment that gets a lot of headlines," he said. "I could do that. But that doesn't help the public policy that we have to enforce."
Shortly after the mayor's news conference, Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick issued a statement:
“The Lawrence Police Department is an extremely dedicated law enforcement and public safety agency. The drug and opioid epidemic affects every city and town in this country. Here in Lawrence, we work closely — and have worked closely for decades — with our law enforcement partners in major cities across New England, including Boston and Manchester, N.H., to aggressively enforce the drug laws and stem the flow of drugs into communities. This is a national epidemic that requires teamwork and partnership across borders and among municipal, state and federal agencies.”
Rivera said he does not question New Hampshire's officials' motives on dealing with any issue.
As an example, he said: "I think it's weird that (in New Hampshire) you can buy liquor from the state. Frankly, it's anti-capitalist, right? But you don't see me going on TV and talking about how unconscionable it is for the state to be in the business of alcohol sales. That's their business."
(Our earlier, Thursday morning report follows:)
One day after Gov. Chris Sununu said the majority of the drugs flowing into New Hampshire are coming from Lawrence, Massachusetts, the city’s mayor told WMUR he was “disappointed” in the governor’s comments.
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"It's coming from Lawrence," Sununu said Wednesday morning. "Eighty-five percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts."
>> Sununu: Drugs in NH coming 'straight out of Lawrence'
Sununu also called on law enforcement to cross the border into Massachusetts to stop the flow of drugs.
"Guess what? We're going in," Sununu said. "We're going to get tough on these guys, and I want to scare every dealer that wants to come across that border. We're not giving dealers nine months on parole and probation anymore. We're putting them away for the five, 10 and 15 years that they deserve."
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera told WMUR Thursday he was disappointed in the governor’s comments.
“I’m disappointed that the governor would be so rash and cavalier with such a complex problem,” Rivera said. “It’s foolish to think this is a geography problem with a simple problem that we can arrest our way out of. This is a human being problem and we need to work together to solve.”
Rivera said that he has called Sununu and is waiting for a call back.
“I look forward for the governor's call," Rivera said.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker defended his state’s commitment to fighting the war on drugs.
"The Baker-Polito administration has stepped up law enforcement efforts to end trafficking, invested millions of dollars in prevention and treatment, created a national blueprint to fight the epidemic that other states have modeled," Baker’s spokesman said in a statement.
View video clip here: http://www.wmur.com/article/lawrence-mayor-disappointed-in-sununus-rash-comments-about-drug-crisis/9083091
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Sununu blames Lawrence, Mass., for N.H. drug problem, says prevention programs ‘stink’
Mar 2, 2017 | Concord Monitor
By Ella Nilsen
Gov. Chris Sununu has been talking tough on the opioid crisis, but his latest comments have rankled officials in neighboring Massachusetts, as well as treatment and prevention advocates in New Hampshire.
Speaking to business leaders in Manchester on Wednesday, Sununu blamed Lawrence, Mass., for the flow of deadly opioids into the state and said New Hampshire’s drug prevention programs “stink.” Recounting a recent meeting with other New England governors, Sununu also said he would pursue a cross-border operation into Massachusetts to target drug dealers in Lawrence.
“I sat down with Charlie Baker and all the governors from the New England region, and I said, ‘We’re going across borders, you better get ready,’ ” Sununu said. “We’re going in and we’re going to get tough on these guys. I want to scare every dealer that wants to come across that border.”
But New Hampshire’s top law enforcement official said state police don’t have the jurisdiction to go across state lines and nab Massachusetts dealers, unless they are on a regional task force with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Attorney General Joe Foster said there is no current operation where New Hampshire officers are being sent into Massachusetts to arrest drug dealers, and he’s discussed no such operation with Sununu.
“It sounds like the governor had something different in mind,” Foster said.
On Wednesday, Sununu spoke about working with federal DEA agents and police in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
N.H. Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said New Hampshire law enforcement can charge a Massachusetts drug dealer if they can trace that person back to deaths in the Granite State.
“Unless you’re working under a federal agency, you can’t just go driving down across the border and pull people back,” Agati said. “Certainly operations like that go on from the DEA side of it.”
Lawrence connection
New Hampshire now ranks second nationwide for per-capita drug overdose deaths, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with fentanyl and other opioids responsible for most of them.
Out of the 434 people who died in New Hampshire from drug overdoses last year, the powerful synthetic alone caused at least 183 deaths, according to statistics from the state chief medical examiner’s office, and the drug led to another 116 deaths when mixed with other substances.
On Wednesday, Sununu said that 85 percent of fentanyl in the state comes from Lawrence.
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera said Sununu’s comments about his city were shortsighted and ignore a regional addiction problem.
Sununu “was trying to make a point ... but there’s collateral damage when you make a point for effect that way,” Rivera said at a Thursday press conference. “The opioid crisis is so large that no community is without a problem. And to make it about Lawrence is the trap.”
Agati said his office does not have the statistics to show definitively that 85 percent of the fentanyl in New Hampshire comes from Lawrence, but added that that area of Massachusetts is widely regarded as a drug hot spot by law enforcement.
“A lot of people would agree with that statement,” he said, adding, “I don’t think we’ve got any numbers to support it.”
Sununu and Rivera talked by phone Thursday afternoon, after which Sununu’s office issued a statement with a noticeably softer tone. The governor said he was “encouraged” by the conversation and had invited Rivera to help him develop a plan to find solutions to the drug problem in both states.
“The Mayor and his local law enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on this issue, but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions,” Sununu said in his statement.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker did not return a request for comment.
‘They stink’
Sununu also drew criticism Wednesday from advocates in his own state for comments on New Hampshire’s prevention programs.
“They stink. You can quote me on that,” he said. “And I’m saying that not as a politician, but as a dad.”
Sununu said his fifth- and sixth-grade children are part of school prevention programs that are “incredibly weak.”
“They’re nascent,” he said of the programs. “They’re all a bit different. Some communities have them; some communities don’t. There’s really no set of standards.”
That comment took prevention coordinator Deb Naro by surprise.
“I was quite stunned, actually,” said Naro, the executive director of CADY Inc., an alcohol- and drug-use prevention nonprofit based in Plymouth. “It’s so inaccurate. He’s obviously not informed on the regional prevention network system in New Hampshire. It’s a well-oiled machine.”
In fact, some of New Hampshire’s regional prevention programs have received national recognition – Dover’s Youth To Youth program was honored at the White House in 2015.
Beyond awards, survey results indicate that prevention efforts have had a measurable impact on some parts of the state.
Officials at the North Country Health Consortium say their prevention work has led to lower teen drinking rates. In 2009 – the year the program started – 26 percent of regional high school students reported never drinking alcohol; that number rose to 38 percent, according to the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey numbers.
Naro and Sununu agree that there needs to be more state funding for prevention. Sununu’s recent budget proposal pledges to double the state’s contribution to the alcohol fund – a slice of Liquor Commission profits meant to be diverted to prevention programs. The program hasn’t been fully funded since 2003.
“There’s little to no money on the ground to implement prevention strategies,” Naro said. “My organization has to physically raise the funds, through grant writing and fundraising.”
Sununu’s spokesman Dave Abrams said the state must do more to support prevention specialists to fight the opioid crisis.
“Governor Sununu is working to bring our prevention professionals to the table, so that more Granite Staters and all of our schools have greater access to the best prevention programs,” Abrams said.
Naro said Sununu did not reach out to her organization directly, but that youth in CADY Inc. have contacted the governor’s office to schedule a meeting with him. After his recent comments, she said she welcomes the opportunity to meet more than ever.
“I think it’s really imperative that he listens,” she said. “I think as a new governor he does have a learning curve. I’d love to offer to help educate him.”
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Sununu, Rivera call truce in cross-border opiate war
Mar 2, 2017 | Eagle Tribune
By Keith Eddings
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Mayor Daniel Rivera reached a quick and peaceful settlement in their interstate war of words over Sununu's allegation that the city is fueling New England's opiate crisis.
Sununu fired the first shot Wednesday, when he warned Lawrence to “get ready” because he would be going “across borders” to plug the pipeline of opiates he said is coming in from Lawrence.
On Thursday, the freshman Republican governor shifted tone and commended Rivera, a Democrat, for his work combating addiction and offered a less combative solution to region's opiate crisis.
The sharp shift in tone came after Rivera blasted Sununu on Wednesday for telling a business forum in Manchester that Lawrence was responsible for 85 percent of the fentanyl coming into New Hampshire and suggesting a radical solution.
“And we know where it's coming from – it's coming from Lawrence,” Sununu told the forum in a speech that Manchester television station WMUR posted to its web page. “Eighty-five percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Guess what? We're going in.”
Sununu doubled down on the comments in an interview later Wednesday, when he added Lowell to his short list of cities he said are funneling drugs to New Hampshire. He also questioned Lawrence's decision to declare itself a so-called sanctuary city, where local police limit cooperating with federal immigration authorities seeking undocumented immigrants.
Rivera reacted within hours on Wednesday, dismissing Sununu's comments as distracting hyperbole and questioning whether Sununu was threatening Massachusetts' sovereignty. Rivera reiterated those comments at a hastily summoned press conference outside a city school Thursday, when he said he would call Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker if he saw New Hampshire state troopers in the city.
Sununu called Rivera an hour or so after Thursday's press conference. He followed that up with a press release commending Rivera for “doing a good job on this issue” and promised to “work collaboratively across our borders” to solve the region's drug problems.
“I am encouraged by my conversation with the mayor and have invited him to join me in developing a plan that will find solutions to this problem in both of our communities,” Sununu said.
The phone call lasted 15 minutes. Rivera said it was productive.
“I explained to him how incredibly distractive for a small community like mine to have a state's governor pointing (to us) in the way that he did,” Rivera said. “He said he didn't mean to do it so that it would hurt Lawrence. He said he was just repeating what law enforcement had told him.”
“I invited him to come to Lawrence and see what we're doing in that effort,” Rivera said. “We're trying really hard to make Lawrence an inhospitable place to buy and sell drugs. I think he got that.”
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After Blaming Lawrence For N.H.'s Opioid Problem, Gov. Sununu Urges Collaboration (AUDIO)
Mar 2, 2017 | WBUR 90.9
By Deborah Becker
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday that he's eager to work with Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera battling the opioid epidemic.
That's after Sununu blamed Lawrence Wednesday night for much of the opioid problem in his state.
Sununu issued a statement Thursday saying he spoke with Rivera in the afternoon and he believed that Lawrence officials have been doing a good job on the opioid issue. That's much softer than what Sununu said during an address to the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.
"Eighty-five percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts," Sununu said Wednesday. "Guess what: We're going in. And we're going to get tough on these guys, and I want to scare every dealer that wants to come across that border."
Sununu's statement Thursday also said the opioid problem requires all state, local and federal agencies to work together. Mayor Rivera agreed. He said it's the demand for opioids like heroin and fentanyl that's the real problem, and he said his city already is working on attacking the supply.
"Our No. 1 goal is to make it inhospitable for people to buy and sell drugs in Lawrence," Rivera said. "By the end of the year, we'll have 23 new police officers, we revamped our detective unit, our street narcotics unit. We are doing everything we can within our means."
Rivera also said resources are needed, especially for long term substance use treatment. He says that is something officials are not talking about.
"I have not heard that from anyone, from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont," Rivera said. "And we're going to have long term treatment for people. That's not there and that's what you need. Not three days and four days and letting the private health sector pay for it. This is a public health emergency."
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says this is a multifaceted problem. He says over the past 2 years, Massachusetts has increased spending on treatment and recovery by more than $50 million.
As for the Sununu-Rivera flap, Baker says it’s not fair to single out one community for a nationwide problem. Just last weekend at the National Governors Association meeting, Baker said he and other area governors talked about how opioids are getting into New England.
"There are a lot of different paths that illegal drugs travel all over this country and up the eastern seaboard," Baker said. "We all said we need to work together as a community to deal with this."
Massachusetts State Police say the Lawrence area is a source of significant trafficking of heroin and fentanyl but it is not the only source. State police also say they are committed to working with other states and agencies on the opioid epidemic, as they have for the past decade.
Earlier Thursday, federal officials released the annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. It says the entire country is facing the worst opioid problem in 60 years. Officials estimate that more than 90 percent of all heroin consumed in the United States comes from Mexico.
Listen to audio clip here: http://www.wbur.org/news/2017/03/02/sununu-rivera-opioids
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Sununu Finds Himself in Cross-Border Fight With Massachusetts Officials on Opioid Crisis
Mar 2, 2017 | NHPR
By Paige Sutherland
Governor Chris Sununu is getting attention for his recent claims that the city of Lawrence, Mass., is the main source of fentanyl hitting New Hampshire.
Critics accuse Sununu of pointing fingers – saying it’s not going to solve the state’s drug crisis.
Gov. Sununu has been talking a lot about Lawrence, Massachusetts this week. Here he is during an address at St. Anselm College Wednesday.
“Eighty-five percent of fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence Massachusetts. Guess what? We are going in," Sununu said. "We are going to get tough on these guys, and I want to scare every dealer that wants to come across that border.”
He said much the same thing in an interview with Boston Herald Radio later that day.
“They have undocumented drug dealers that are dealing these drugs, they are getting arrested, they are being given bail by judges – I can’t understand how they are getting bail by the way with the judges in Massachusetts,” Sununu said when asked about sanctuary cities, which Lawrence is.
Sununu’s criticism of his neighbor isn’t going without response.
The Mayor of Lawrence Daniel Rivera immediately pushed back on Sununu’s claims - saying cross-border criticism isn’t helpful in the fight against drugs.
“These borders have been here forever, when we were colonies, but the drugs don’t identify those borders, the users don’t identify those borders. So, I refuse to say the real problem is X," Rivera said in a press conference Thursday. "No, the problem is we have a society-wide addiction problem and a society-wide problem with people who want to sell drugs and we should work together to fix them.”
Rivera wasn’t the only one to fight back against Sununu’s remarks. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told reporters that such rhetoric is counterproductive.
“But I do view this as a problem that affects us all and I think singling out a single community or a single state is just not accurate,” Baker said.
Since his earlier comments Sununu has been quiet. He made no public appearances Thursday and Rivera said it took several calls to get Sununu on the phone.
Whether Lawrence is in fact supplying 85 percent of New Hampshire’s fentanyl supply as Sununu alleged – is difficult to confirm. The local Drug Enforcement Agency could not be reached. And the Governor’s Office declined to provide evidence supporting his statistics.
But New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster says he wouldn’t be surprised if that number checked out.
“I think Governor Sununu’s comments are on target – a tremendous amount of the supply of heroin and fentanyl does make its way from Lawrence up to New Hampshire,” Foster said.
Lawrence Mayor Rivera says the city’s law enforcement is working fiercely to cut down on the supply – adding that he’s hired 23 more police officers to help do so. But he said reducing the demand through increased treatment options is another factor in this fight.
“And I bet him 100 bucks that he could probably use more long-term beds," Riveria said. "I’m not talking spin-cycle, not talking 3 day, 4 day, 5 days. I’m talking long-term treatment, that’s the only way we are going to beat this thing. I don’t care how many people you put in jail.”
Tym Rourke, who chairs the Governor’s Commission on Drugs and Alcohol, agrees. Although enforcement is part of the part – it’s not a silver bullet.
“Like many public health issues – the substance abuse epidemic is like a balloon, if you squeeze one end of it, it is just going to grow somewhere else.”
Sununu has added more state dollars for prevention and treatment in his recent budget proposal as well as ten additional state troopers to handle drug trafficking.
And Sununu and Rivera did finally get on the phone Thursday afternoon. In a statement, Sununu said he looks forward to working on cross-border solutions.
Listen to clip here: http://nhpr.org/post/sununu-finds-himself-cross-border-fight-massachusetts-officials-opioid-crisis#stream/0
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NH governor blames Lawrence for state's opiate problem
Mar 2, 2017 | Fox 25 Boston
The governor of New Hampshire is blaming Massachusetts for his state's opiate problem.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu claimed 85-percent of the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl is coming from the city of Lawrence.
Gov. Sununu said that Lawrence's status as a sanctuary city is helping to fuel the drug trade because illegal immigrants are peddling the deadly drugs across the border.
The governor is quoted in the Herald as saying:
For example Lawrence, right? So you have undocumented drug dealers that are dealing these drugs, they are getting arrested, they are being given bail by judges ... they’re jumping bail, getting a new ID and they’re back in that same home dealing drugs a week later. It’s an absolutely crazy system.
His comments did not sit well with Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera.
"His is incredibly distracting for the real work that we have to do in this city every day," he said.
Rivera says his city is working hard on enforcement, hiring 23 new police officers to fight the drug problem.
He takes issue with Sununu's statistics, saying 85 percent is "incredibly" high.Rivera said Sununu should instead focus on the New Hampshire residents struggling with addiction.
"It's the only way we are going to beat this thing, I don't care how many people you put in jail," he said.
Rivera said he's called Sununu twice, and finally this afternoon they were able to connect. Sununu also backed down, saying in a statement, "The mayor and his local law enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on this issue, but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions. It has no geographic boundaries."
So far, there has been no comment from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who has increased funding to fight the opioid crisis.
View clip here: http://www.fox25boston.com/news/report-nh-governor-blames-lawrence-for-states-opiate-problem/498933425
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Sununu, Mass. mayor bury hatchet after row over sanctuary city comments
Mar 2, 2017 | New Hampshire Union Leader
By Dave Solomon
The mayor of Lawrence, Mass., fired back at Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday, after the governor identified the Bay State city as the primary source of illegal drugs coming into New Hampshire and threatened direct intervention.
The two later spoke by phone and agreed to a collaborative approach to the problem.
In a speech before the Manchester Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, and later on a Boston radio station, Sununu addressed the state’s opioid addiction crisis, particularly the source of the deadly drug fentanyl.
“We know where it’s coming from; it’s coming from Lawrence,” Sununu told the Manchester gathering. “Eighty-five percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Mass., and guess what, we’re coming in.”Sununu said he met with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and other New England governors at the recent winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington to discuss a cross-border strategy to break the drug trade.
He accused Lawrence of operating as a “sanctuary city,” where judges are lenient on drug dealers and law enforcement is lax.
In a hastily called news conference on Thursday morning, Rivera challenged those statements.
“The reality is, this is a really complicated problem, and Lawrence isn’t the basis of the problem, and the users from Manchester aren’t the basis of the problem,” Rivera said. “I know it sounds cool and he wants to be like the President, out there riffing and being loud and rambunctious, but that’s not how you make public policy.”
In a statement issued later on Thursday, after the two spoke by telephone, Sununu commended Rivera and his law enforcement agencies for “doing a good job on this issue.”
“But we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions,” the governor said. “It has no geographic boundaries and it remains incumbent upon all of us to come together and work collaboratively across our borders along with federal, state and local law enforcement.”
Rivera issued his own statement, in which he described the conversation with Sununu as productive.
“He assured me his naming of Lawrence in his statement yesterday was not to impugn Lawrence in any way,” Rivera said. “He also said the statistic he used was what law enforcement was telling him. I encouraged him to review the tape of his comments to see how it came off. It appeared that he was sending a warning that he was coming for Lawrence.”
“I don’t think he meant to threaten the sovereignty of the commonwealth, but he did,” said the mayor. “No one jurisdiction can deal with this matter alone and for us to start pointing fingers at each other is counterproductive.”
Attorney General Joe Foster backed up Sununu’s numbers.
“I do think Gov. Sununu is correct that the majority of the heroin and fentanyl that makes its way to New Hampshire and is then sold in the eastern and middle parts of the state (Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth and Dover) comes from Lawrence,” Foster wrote in an email.
“In the western part of the state some makes its way from New York City or Springfield, Mass., but I suspect that is only 15 percent or so (and maybe less) of what makes its way into New Hampshire.”
At his noon news conference on Thursday, Rivera expressed frustration over his inability to reach Sununu by phone after two separate attempts. The two spoke around 1 p.m.
“I am encouraged by my conversation with the mayor and have invited him to join me in developing a plan that will find solutions to this problem in both of our communities,” Sununu said.
Rivera acknowledged that Lawrence is one of 32 cities in the country known as “Sanctuary Cities” or as he called it, “Trust Acts” cities, which limit the role of local police in federal immigration enforcement.
But, he said, that doesn’t mean the city is weak on drug enforcement or illegal immigrants who commit crimes: “Since August of 2015, we have given up five people to the federal government who were here illegally and committed a crime, so it’s not like we are harboring criminals.”
The New Hampshire Senate’s Democratic leader, Sen. Jeff Woodburn of Dalton, accused Sununu of “antagonizing key regional partners in the collective fight to combat the devastating effects of the opioid crisis.”
“New Hampshire needs steady and serious leadership from the governor’s office that focuses on a holistic approach to solving this public health crisis, not reckless, cavalier comments,” Woodburn said. -
Lawrence mayor: 'Disappointed' by Sununu’s 'rash' comments on drug crisis
Mar 2, 2017 | WCVB ABC
One day after Gov. Chris Sununu said the majority of the drugs flowing into New Hampshire are coming from Lawrence, Massachusetts, the city’s mayor told WMUR he was "disappointed" in the governor’s comments.
"It's coming from Lawrence," Sununu said Wednesday morning. "Eighty-five percent of the fentanyl in this state is coming straight out of Lawrence, Massachusetts."
Sununu also called on law enforcement to cross the border into Massachusetts to stop the flow of drugs.
"Guess what? We're going in," Sununu said. "We're going to get tough on these guys, and I want to scare every dealer that wants to come across that border. We're not giving dealers nine months on parole and probation anymore. We're putting them away for the five, 10 and 15 years that they deserve."
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera told WMUR Thursday he was disappointed in the governor's comments.
"I'm disappointed that the governor would be so rash and cavalier with such a complex problem," Rivera said. "It's foolish to think this is a geography problem with a simple problem that we can arrest our way out of. This is a human being problem and we need to work together to solve."
Rivera said that he has called Sununu and is waiting for a call back.
"I look forward for the governor's call," Rivera said.
"The Lawrence Police Department is an extremely dedicated law enforcement and public safety agency. The drug and opioid epidemic affects every city and town in this country," Lawrence Police Chief James Fitzpatrick said in a statement. "Here in Lawrence, we work closely -- and have worked closely for decades -- with our law enforcement partners in major cities across New England, including Boston and Manchester, N.H., to aggressively enforce the drug laws and stem the flow of drugs into communities. This is a national epidemic that requires teamwork and partnership across borders and among municipal, state and federal agencies."
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker defended his state's commitment to fighting the war on drugs.
"The Baker-Polito administration has stepped up law enforcement efforts to end trafficking, invested millions of dollars in prevention and treatment, created a national blueprint to fight the epidemic that other states have modeled," Baker's spokesman said in a statement.
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Mar 2, 2017 | FOX Boston
View clip here: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/26321701?token=db316a0d-9d74-4ddb-b7f4-7c6841de7c54
Rough transcript: mayor of lawrence fighting back after governor chris sununu blamed new hampshire's opioid crisis on drug dealers from lawrence. >> vanessa: kathryn burcham live in lawrence with the war of words all new at 5:00 p.m. >> the reporter: and right now, there is peace talks happening, but that is certainly a change from earlier today, after governor sununu's repeated statement that 85% of the drugs in new hampshire come from right here in lawrence. >> he's the governor of new hampshire, what does he know. >> the reporter: mayor dan rivera says the govern of massachusetts should butt out of new hampshire's business. i dont think he understands what he's talking about. rivera is pulling no punches after hearing of rampant drug dealing in lawrence, blaming it part on lawrence's sanctuary city status for undocumented immigrants. >> this is incredibly distracting for the work we have to do every day. >> rivera says his city is working hard, hiring 23 new police officers to fight the drug problems, but he takes issue with sununu's statistics. >> no. incredibly high, 85% is. >> the reporter: and riviera says the governor should be focused on new hampshire residents struggling with addiction. >> it's the only way we'll beat this thing. i don't care how many people you put in jail >> the reporter: later this afternoon, governor sununu back down, telling us in a a statement s the mayor and his local law enforcement personnel have been doing a good job on the issue. but we must recognize this is a cross-border problem that requires cross-border solutions. it has no geographic boundaries. and the mayor tells us, he did finally have a phone conversation with governor sununu late this afternoon, after repeated attempts to get a hold of the governor, he says, now both sides have pledged to work together to find solutions to the opioid crisis.
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Mar 2, 2017 | ABC Porgland, ME
View clip here: http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/26321821?token=db316a0d-9d74-4ddb-b7f4-7c6841de7c54
finding a solution to the opioid epidemic across state borders. new hampshire's governor, calling on all of new england to work together. governor chris sununu says he knows drugs are coming into new hampshire from massachusetts. he says it's time for law enforcement from both states to work together on a major offensive against dealers for the benefit of all of new england. gov. sununu: i sat down with charlie baker and all the governors from the new england regions and said we're going to cross borders, you better get ready. i'm working with the dea in bedford, working with the dea in boston, our state police, their state police. david: in controversial comments last summer, governor lepage said drugs were coming into maine from other parts of new england, specifically, connecticut, massachusetts, and also new york.
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Editorial: Confusion over liability in opioid crisis threatens to punish patients in pain
Mar 2, 2017 | The Buffalo News
By Editorial Board
The opioid crisis is a complex and confounding problem trailing social, psychological, legal and medical entanglements. In treating it, doctors, lawyers and politicians must hew to the ancient maxim: First, do no harm.
Something went awry in recent communications between government leaders and the medical community, creating confusion and worry among some physicians that appropriately caring for patients in severe pain could result in criminal charges. It’s not true, those government leaders say, but somehow, it was the message received. For the sake of people suffering pain that may be unbearable, those leaders need to ensure the point is clear.
The confusion began with comments by Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz and Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. about plans to hold doctors accountable for their roles in opiate-related deaths. What doctors heard – and what, frankly, didn’t make sense – was that if someone died of an opioid-related cause and that if that person had been prescribed an opioid by a physician, the doctor could be charged with a crime.
To doctors, that sounded like a warning to shun patients in severe pain. The patient could become addicted, turn to heroin and die of an overdose. It’s happening with frightening regularity in Western New York and around the country. Alarmed, leaders of the medical community warned that doctors would stop treating patients in pain to avoid the risk.
But Poloncarz and Kennedy say they believe doctors misunderstood their intentions, which, they said, represent no change from the past. When doctors commit actual crimes, such as dispensing opioids without medical cause, they risk criminal prosecution. That’s appropriate, as the medical leaders readily agreed.
But however the confusion arose, it is incumbent on Poloncarz and Kennedy to clear it up. The rate of opioid addiction counts as an emergency; dealing with it requires a clear understanding of the issues.
Doctors, too, need to be sure they have learned the lessons of the past several years. They say they thought, based on false information from the pharmaceutical companies, that the drugs were safe, and prescribed them more freely than they would have otherwise.
The question of the companies’ liability is real. Several governments, including Erie County, have sued manufacturers of opioid painkillers, alleging that they concealed information about the addictiveness of the drugs.
But whatever the facts were, the truth is known now. Many people using opioids prescribed for them have become addicted, turning to street-corner heroin – chemically similar and much cheaper, though often spiked with lethal doses of fentanyl – once their prescriptions expire.
Some patients are in chronic and excruciating pain and desperately need the relief that these drugs can provide. Doctors need to know how to manage those patients and what their role should be for those who become addicted.
What can’t happen is for doctors to turn away those patients based on a false belief of their own exposure to criminal sanctions. The problem is difficult enough without making it worse.
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