Gov. Maggie Hassan’s top appointee to fight New Hampshire’s drug epidemic resigned in the face of mounting criticism of his job performance.
Hassan created the position of "Drug Czar" in 2015 after it was revealed that the small New England state had the highest rate of drug use in the country. Jack Wozmak, her first appointee to fill that role, submitted his resignation letter late Friday, bringing his turbulent tenure to an end.
He faced criticism for failing to take advantage of federal funding for drug treatment programs and for not interacting with local police and healthcare leaders to combat burgeoning drug use in the Granite State.
Hassan, who did not return Washington Free Beacon request for comment, defended Wozmac, in the wake of the resignation.
"For the past year, Jack Wozmak has worked tirelessly to strengthen the state’s response to the heroin and opioid crisis," Hassan told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "Many of his initial recommendations issued last summer are reflected in measures that the legislature will take up this year and that have broad, bipartisan support."
New Hampshire Republicans have been calling for Wozmak’s firing for months after he denied local governments access to federal dollars to cope with the drug epidemic. State Party Chairman Jennifer Horn said that the resignation was long overdue.
"Jack Wozmak’s tenure as Governor Maggie Hassan’s drug czar was marked by a troubling pattern of ineptitude and ineffectiveness. Under Governor Hassan’s leadership, Mr. Wozmak refused to work with local officials and repeatedly failed to reach out to the physicians and members of New Hampshire’s law enforcement community who are on the front lines of combating our state’s heroin epidemic," she said in a release.
Amelia Chassé, spokesman for the GOP research firm America Rising, said that the Hassan administration failed to act, prioritizing Hassan’s Senate ambitions over effectively dealing with drugs that killed 500 residents in 2013 and 2014.
"Governor Hassan should have listened long ago to the leading members of New Hampshire's medical, law enforcement, and advocacy communities, who have been speaking out against her ineffective and unresponsive 'drug czar' for months," she said in a release. "Her announcement on Friday amounts to an admission that New Hampshire has lost valuable time in responding to the drug crisis gripping the state. Governor Hassan owes Granite Staters a straightforward explanation of her administration's lack of progress, not a Friday night press release."
Republicans were not the only ones to criticize Hassan’s choice. The New Hampshire Union Leader declared that the drug czar had "failed spectacularly" in an editorial published after his resignation.
"Wozmak didn’t bother contacting police chiefs in several of New Hampshire’s largest communities, and hadn’t been in touch with the New Hampshire Medical Society after months on the job," the editorial said. "Hassan’s pick to take over the Department of Health and Human Services, attorney Jeffrey Meyers, helped her push Medicaid expansion. He’s a competent lawyer and a loyal Democratic staffer, but his nomination shows Hassan remains focused more on the Medicaid battle than on the drug crisis."
New Hampshire’s drug problems have influenced national politics.
President Barack Obama approved more than $10 million in additional federal funding for local governments racked with high narcotics rates. It also played a large role in the final Democratic presidential primary debate on Sunday when NBC anchor Lester Holt asked Hillary Clinton what she would do to solve the "deadly heroin epidemic."
"I have tried to come out with a comprehensive approach that number one, does tell the state that we will work with you from the federal government putting more money about a billion dollars a year, to help states have a different approach to dealing with this epidemic," Clinton said.
Horn said that federal tax dollars only work if state and local leaders manage the program effectively.
"Given the seriousness of New Hampshire’s substance abuse crisis, Governor Hassan should have already replaced Mr. Wozmak with a competent person who could have done a better job. Granite Staters expect state government to be well-managed, and it’s clear that Governor Hassan’s focus on her distracting United States Senate campaign is hindering her ability to address this emergency," Horn said.