Praise for Christie's Approach on Drugs Misplaced, Some Say

By JOSH CORNFIELD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON, N.J. — Dec 27, 2015, 12:46 PM ET

Gov. Chris Christie has drawn accolades from supporters and detractors alike for his work addressing the opiate problem in New Jersey and elsewhere. But advocates and addicts say he is helping those already in trouble with the law and failing those who are looking to get clean before they slip up and find themselves in jail.

One of the brightest moments of Christie's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination was his emotional telling of a law school friend's struggle with drug addiction, relayed to a town hall audience in New Hampshire and later watched by millions on Facebook.

He is credited for getting people to pay attention to drug addiction, expanding drug court programs and signing measures including expanding the use of the overdose-prevention drug naloxone and a prescription monitoring program.

But that praise is coupled with complaints of sometimes monthslong waiting lists to get into drug treatment, as well as a delayed effort to raise Medicaid rates that is stretching an already strained system to help addicts in need of public assistance.

"The administration often says it has added money to treatment in drug court, but that's once you're entangled in the criminal justice system," said Roseanne Scotti, the New Jersey director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "A lot of people wouldn't be entangled in the criminal justice system if they had treatment. You shouldn't have to get arrested to get treatment."

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