Combating the Substance Misuse Crisis
The heroin, fentanyl, and opioid crisis is the most pressing public health and safety challenge facing New Hampshire, taking a massive toll on our communities, our workforce, and our economy.
During her time as Governor, Senator Hassan worked to implement a comprehensive strategy to support those on the front lines and help save lives. Working across party lines, she secured funding to strengthen treatment, prevention, recovery, and law enforcement efforts. Under her leadership, New Hampshire increased penalties for fentanyl distribution, began investigating overdose deaths as homicides, reformed the state’s prescribing rules, and expanded the state’s prescription drug monitoring system.
Under then-Governor Hassan’s leadership, New Hampshire successfully passed and reauthorized a bipartisan Medicaid expansion plan, one of the state’s most powerful tools in fighting the epidemic because it covers mental health and substance use disorder services.
Senator Hassan is building on those efforts in the Senate, fighting to secure additional resources for New Hampshire and standing up against attempts to repeal Medicaid expansion. She is also focused on stopping dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl from being shipped through our borders, helping law enforcement crack down on synthetic substances and better prosecute drug traffickers, and establishing a permanent funding stream to provide and expand access to substance use disorder treatment. And she is working across party lines to help ensure that health care providers and patients understand the addiction risks of so-called “abuse-deterrent” opioids.
The Senator has also spoken out on the need to end the stigma of addiction that prevents too many in New Hampshire and across America from reaching out to get help.
Senator Hassan is willing to work with anyone to help those struggling with addiction get the treatment that they need and to support all of the dedicated professionals on the front lines battling this crisis.
Related News
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December 11, 2018
Senator Hassan Statement on Bipartisan Farm Bill Agreement that Includes Critical Priorities for New Hampshire
WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan issued the following statement after the final bill text for the bipartisan Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 was released - also known as the “Farm Bill.” The legislation includes critical support for New Hampshire’s agricultural industry and helps prevent Granite Staters from going hungry. The legislation also makes vital investments in the State’s rural communities and water infrastructure, and helps support efforts to combat the devastating fentanyl, heroin, and opioid epidemic.
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December 02, 2018
Senator Hassan Statement on China Classifying Fentanyl as a Controlled Substance
WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan released the following statement after the announcement that China will classify fentanyl as a controlled substance following talks with the United States at the G20 summit:
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November 29, 2018
Senator Hassan Statement on CDC 2017 Drug Overdose Death Rate Report
WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan issued the following statement today after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new report on the rate of drug overdose deaths in the United States. The report found that the drug overdose death rate in New Hampshire in 2017 remained about the same as the previous year, but the national rate was nearly 10 percent higher than it was in 2016. The report also found a 45 percent increase from 2016 to 2017 in drug deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
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November 29, 2018
Shaheen, Hassan & Shea-Porter Announce $312K to Families in Transition
( Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) announced $312,220 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to Families in Transition in Manchester. This grant will fund Families in Transition’s Connections to Recovery Program, which will support outreach and care for an estimated 160 homeless individuals who are struggling with substance use disorders annually in New Hampshire.
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November 28, 2018
Senator Hassan Presses FTC Commissioners on Oversight of Deceptive Marketing Practices of Opioids
WASHINGTON - During a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee hearing yesterday, Senator Maggie Hassan questioned Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioners about the FTC’s oversight of the pharmaceutical industry’s deceptive marketing practices for opioids. To watch Senator Hassan’s questioning, click here.
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October 29, 2018
NH and MA Delegations Applaud Award of Substantial Anti-Heroin Task Force Grant
( U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the lead Democrat of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), along with Representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Mike Capuano (D-MA), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Niki Tsongas (D-MA), Bill Keating (D-MA), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) and Annie Kuster (D-NH), the founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Heroin and Opioid Task Force, applauded an award of $2.95 million to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office in support of partnerships between Massachusetts and New Hampshire law enforcement to investigate and interdict narcotics, including heroin and fentanyl.
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October 24, 2018
Senator Hassan Attends White House Bill Signing Ceremony for Bipartisan Opioid Legislation With Key New Hampshire Priorities
WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan was at the White House today as the President signed into law bipartisan legislation she helped develop to combat the deadly fentanyl, heroin, and opioid epidemic. The bipartisan legislation, the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, includes key New Hampshire priorities that Senator Hassan fought to include in order to strengthen prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement efforts.
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