Merrimack's Ryan Gagne meets with U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte on Heroin Bill

Photo Courtesy: Sen. Ayotte's Office Caption: Left to Right: John Jensen, Northeast Outreach Coordinator, Amethyst Recovery Center; Ryan Gagne, Director, Live Free Structured Sober Living; Senator Kelly Ayotte; and John Brogan, Outreach Coordinator, Amethyst Recovery Center.

Merrimack resident Ryan Gagne and U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte met to go over the Comprehensive Addition And Recovery Act, the federal government's efforts to deal with the heroin and opioid crisis.

Gagne is director of Live Free Structured Sober Living in Manchester, and Ayotte visited the facility on Thursday.

“Live Free Structured Sober Living is a critically important recovery program, and I appreciated the discussion we had during Thursday’s visit about the framework that CARA provides to help strengthen our response to this epidemic,” she said. “As New Hampshire works together to turn the tide of this crisis, we have to continue our work to support programs like Live Free to remove the stigma of addiction and get people the help they need to enter and sustain recovery.”

Ayotte was an author of CARA, which was signed into law at the end of July. It authorizes $181 million in funding for agencies and programs that provide treatment, recovery, and prevention tools.