Sessions vows new war on drugs – Eagle-Tribune

MANCHESTER, N.H. As thousands of students from across the region made their way into the Southern New Hampshire University Arena for the states first-ever Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness, organizers were finalizing a surprise Tuesday morning.

That surprise was a real crowd shocker as Attorney General Jeff Sessions strode to the stage.

I want you to know that what is happening here today is not an ordinary event, Sessions said after taking the podium. It is a special thing. That is why I cleared my schedule here today to be with you.

The event, hosted by theMark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, is part of a grassroots effort to promote drug prevention among elementary, middle and high school students.

In a 10-minute address to a crowd, Sessions recalled his time as a federal prosecutor in the 1980s. He said history should serve as a blueprint to ending todays epidemic.

It was a terrible time for drugs, he recalled. Illegal drug use had surged. Cities were filled with heroin addicts. Families broke up, young people dropped out of schools and universities. Crime and violence threatened public safety, and the purity of street heroin and cocaine and marijuana at that time was much lower than it is today. But the impact was still enormous to our country.

Sessions spoke of a need to stop the thugs and gangs who use violence and extortion to move their products.

The president has issued an executive order, through the Department of Justice, to dismantle these organizations and gangs, he said. We are going after them. That you can be sure.

Eight thousand people remained hushed as Sessions criticized the over-prescription of painkillers, attributing mass distribution as feeding the epidemic of heroin addiction.

I believe we can do a much better job on enforcing the criminal violation in prescription drug abuse, he said.

The attorney general called on state law enforcement and those in attendance to help to get drugs off the streets.

We can turn the tide against drugs and addiction in America, just like we did previously, he said. We have proven that education and telling people the truth about drugs and addiction will result in better choices. Drug use will fall, lives will be saved, less money will be going into the cartels and drug gangs, weakening them.

He outlined a three-part solution in the new war on drugs, which calls for prevention, criminal enforcement and treatment. He cited 120 daily fatalities nationwide that could be prevented.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, in a speech following Sessions, had similar thoughts.

I think we can do more in our prevention programs, he said.

Although the states two top members of Congress, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, could not be in attendance, each submitted video messages driving home the point that education is crucial.

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Sessions vows new war on drugs - Eagle-Tribune