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Recovery in the News
Activists want candidates to address addiction as key issue
Carol Robidoux
New Hampshire Union Leader
November 28, 2007
Manchester – Armed with a message T-shirt and an invitation, Alison Hennessey scanned the crowd pouring from a hotel ballroom for her target.
As Elizabeth Edwards came into view, Hennessey moved in, hoping to land a direct hit with her gifts and a two-minute pitch on behalf of all people recovering from addiction who, like Hennessey, feel their voices aren't being heard above the din of other campaign issues.
Hennessey urged Edwards to pass along the invitation to her husband, presidential hopeful John Edwards, asking him to attend a Dec. 2 town hall-style meeting at Timberlane Regional Performing Arts Center in Plaistow.
All the candidates from both parties have been asked to attend the forum, said Tom Coderre of Faces & Voices of Recovery, one of several national and local sponsors of the event.
Although there are no firm commitments yet, Coderre is undaunted.
"The major candidates seem to be planning schedules only days in advance," said Coderre, a former Rhode Island state senator whose political career was destroyed by his own addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
Now more than four years into recovery, Coderre has dedicated himself to advocating for others.
His organization has partnered for the event with local advocates of prevention, treatment, and recovery as well as interested family members who say it's time to put addiction and recovery on the national agenda.
In one way or another, it's something that touches everyone's lives - says Niki Miller, executive director of New Hampshire Taskforce on Women & Recovery.
"I'd like to see the next President declare addiction the No. 1 health problem in America," Miller said. Coderre said one conflict cropping up for candidates are back-to-back debates in Des Moines Dec. 3 and Dec. 4.
So Coderre's strategy is to suggest candidates send surrogates -- family members in recovery, or local campaign reps who understand how crucial this issue is to the voting public.
State Rep. Ricia McMahon of North Sutton, a Democrat who served as chief of staff for the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Bill Clinton and is now on Hillary Clinton's steering committee, said even if she isn't the staffer assigned to represent Clinton in the forum, she plans to attend.
"I commend this group for organizing such an event, so when we finally have our presidential candidates identified, they know this is something that is an issue, not only in New Hampshire, but one that affects our entire country," McMahon said.
Coderre has reached out to Republican candidate John McCain's staff, asking that Cindy McCain come as her husband's surrogate -- she has spoken publicly about her own struggle with painkillers, an addiction she battled during the 1980s and '90s.
The Presidential Town Hall Forum, "A Healthier and Safer New Hampshire: Solving our Alcohol & Drug Problem," is Dec. 2 at 3 p.m., in Timberlane Regional High School's Performing Arts Center in Plaistow. For free tickets to the event call 603-382-6541 x 243.
© Copyright 2007 New Hampshire Union Leader