Nikki Haley joins fentanyl roundtable in Manchester

MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Wednesday, former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the UN held a roundtable with local leaders to discuss the issue of fentanyl.

Originally designed as a pain relief medication that is approximately 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, fentanyl has largely become the pre-eminent street drug within New Hampshire due to its ease of manufacture compared to other illegal narcotics, as Mexican cartels and their affiliates will lace other drugs with the substance, creating it in labs with materials imported from China. On Tuesday a bill addressing China’s role in this topic, co-sponsored by Chris Pappas (D-NH-01), Manchester’s member of the U.S. House of Representatives, received approval from the U.S. House of Representatives.

During Wednesday’s roundtable, Haley said if elected as president she would end normal trade relations with the People’s Republic of China if they did not crack down on the exportation of these materials.

At the event, Haley noted that during her term as governor she welcomed Chinese businesses such as Jushi investing in the state, but that accounted for approximately two percent of outside investment in the state. She also noted that during her term as Ambassador to the UN, she worked with China to place sanctions on North Korea. However, she says that during her time in the UN her view of China evolved into seeing their country as a significant threat to the US.

“Everybody needs to make sure they know how dangerous China is. They are planning war with us amd have been for years,” she said. “We have to wake up. America continues to think we’ll have time to deal with China tomorrow. China is dealing with us today.”

Wednesday’s discussion with Haley was organized by an organization called Freedom Movement NH and moderated by former State Representative and Mayoral Candidate Victoria Sullivan. Sullivan praised the efforts of Amanda Robichaud to help the city’s homeless population suffering from substance abuse.

Sullivan also claimed that the former Safe Stations program became a victim of its own success, claiming that it strained the city’s resources, stating that Manchester should work with other communities to help individuals who hail from those communities but come to Manchester to get support.

“In the end, we were doing more harm than good,” she said on Safe Stations.

Additionally, Sullivan and others at the roundtable stated that organizations need to be more collaborative and more granular in dealing with the issue of substance abuse in Manchester, particularly in doing more to prevent drug use in parks and other public spaces.

“We can bring everybody together, we have more tables, we can make more room,” she said. “It’s just chipping away. It can look overwhelming, but when you help one person at a time, that’s all we can do as individuals.”

Haley praised the person-by-person approach in helping those suffering from fentanyl abuse, highlighting efforts in South Carolina with prisoners dealing with addiction. There, she said that under her watch as governor, prisoners received a mix of faith-based support, job training, partnerships with local businesses upon their release and advocated the importance of increasing mental health services.

“You can’t just go and get people clean, you have to keep them clean,” said Haley.