Heroin Panic in the Granite State

With the voting about to begin, the people in the first in the nation primary state are demanding to know what the various candidates intend to do about the problem they consider most serious: the heroin epidemic that has been ravaging New Hampshire, where overdose deaths have been an everyday occurence.

Unlike so many other issues that are on people’s minds’ across the country, there is no doubt that this plague of overdose deaths is front and center.

With at least 30 already dead this year, 8 overdoses in the last week, what the various candidates are advocating to solve this crisis is front and center in the waning minutes of the New Hampshire campaign. In terms of political priorities, Granite Staters are sharp enough to separate those who just talk the talk rather than walk the walk when it comes to campaign promises. For example, here's how Senator Cruz described his sister's tragic death.

"About five, six years ago, Miriam died of an overdose. It was -- the coroner ruled it accidental. We don't know. She went to one night, had taken too many pills, and Joey walked in and found her dead."

Nick Willard, the outspoken chief of police of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city said it was outrageous that Senator Ted Cruz did not attend a Judiciary Committee hearing on this critical issue last week, even though Cruz uses his half-sister’s overdose death in his various speeches.