Sanborn Calls on 'Ineffective' Drug Czar to Resign

A leading Republican in the state Senate is calling on the state’s “drug czar” to resign after revelations that the official failed to meet with numerous law enforcement officials, including police chiefs of some of New Hampshire’s largest communities.

State Sen. Andy Sanborn, R-Bedford, called on John Wozmak to step down for failing to communicate properly with officials.

“When Gov. Hassan appointed John Wozmak as ‘drug czar,’ she said one of his most important responsibilities is to coordinate the state’s response to New Hampshire’s substance abuse crisis the law enforcement community,” Sanborn said. “But after six months on the job, top law enforcement officials in Manchester, Nashua, Concord and Salem have come forward to say that he has failed to reach out to them and offer assistance. Mr. Wozmak’s lack of communication with local officials and all those working so hard to solve this issue is extremely troubling and unacceptable.”

Sanborn’s comments are the latest in a two week battle between Democrats and Republicans in Concord arguing about how to address the crisis as heroin and other opiates ravage the Granite State, as well as a subset of the fiscal year 2015-2016 budget stalemate.

Criticism for Wozmak started nearly two weeks ago when WMUR-TV aired a segment revealing that he had not met with either the mayor of Manchester, Ted Gatsas, a Republican, nor the city’s new police chief, Nick Willard.

On July 22, 2015, Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood told a talk host on WKXL that he also had not met with the drug czar. And the New Hampshire Union Leader revealed today that Wozmak had not meet with officials in neither Nashua nor Salem.

Executive Councilor Chris Sununu, a potential GOP candidate for governor next year, called it “extremely troubling” that Wozmak had not met with officials in the state’s largest city, which has been the site of some major heroin busts in recent weeks.

William Hinkle, a spokesman for Hassan, countered that the federal money wouldn’t be released until October and would also need to be vetted. He also made the case that Medicaid Expansion, a hallmark of Hassan’s budget that has been blocked by Republicans, was important to combating the issue.

A few days later, Wozmak released crisis recommendations for combating substance abuse, a plan that was heralded by both the governor and advocates.

But in Sanborn’s eyes, it’s too little, too late.

“After six months of complete absence from this fight on the Opioid War, it’s clear that Mr. Wozmak is the wrong person to coordinate the state’s response to the substance abuse crisis,” he stated. “It’s time for the Hassan Administration to replace him in this position and develop a better strategy to respond to the concerns of the local officials, health providers, and legislators who are fighting on the front lines of New Hampshire’s heroin epidemic.”

More reaction

After Patch posted this story, the New Hampshire Democrat Party’s chairman, Ray Buckley, offered the following comment:

“The fact that Senator Sanborn is playing politics with the fight against heroin is truly outrageous. If Sanborn were serious about combating this epidemic, he would renounce his opposition to New Hampshire’s bipartisan Medicaid expansion and work with Gov. Hassan to extend it as soon as possible.”