Rep. Smith: Joyce Craig should be ashamed of herself

In just a few weeks, Democrats across New Hampshire will head to the polls to choose our nominee for governor. I, and a majority of my fellow Democratic legislators, have endorsed Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington as the candidate best-suited not only to win, but to serve as our next governor. Cinde is smart, she is eloquent, and she is prepared to tackle the challenges our state faces on Day One. While her opponent, former Mayor Joyce Craig, may have her own attributes, Joyce has decided that instead of running on her record as the mayor of Manchester, in an attempt to score cheap political points, she is going to hurl misleading attacks on work Cinde did as an attorney more than two decades ago. These attacks are disgusting, and Joyce should be ashamed of herself.

Choosing to prioritize attention-grabbing headlines over the truth is dishonest, irresponsible, and exploitative of people who have suffered from the very serious impacts of the opioid epidemic. The real story behind this dirty smear campaign is actually quite simple. In 2002, before the medical community knew of the fraud that Purdue Pharma was perpetuating about Oxycontin, Cinde argued that physicians – not insurance companies – should be able to decide which medications were most beneficial and appropriate for their patients. This was a few months of work she did as an associate at the law firm of Shaheen & Gordon more than 20 years ago. That’s it.

In the intervening years, Cinde has spoken about her father’s struggle with substance use disorder and the pain experienced by families affected by this issue. She understands what they are going through because she’s been there. That’s why she has worked to help other families dealing with substance use disorder. For more than two decades, she’s advocated for increased access to care, served on multiple community mental health and substance use disorder treatment program boards, and helped bring medication-assisted treatment to New Hampshire. On the Executive Council, Cinde has been the leading advocate for expanded access to substance use treatment and mental health services. She understands this issue backward and forward, and she’s ready to find solutions as governor.

What is most galling is that Joyce knows better. She knows better than to blame an attorney for the actions of their clients. As a lawyer, her husband defended opioid dealers at the height of the crisis, but she isn’t holding him responsible for the opioid epidemic nor should she. She knows better than to blame a single person for such a large and complex issue. As the mayor of Manchester, she oversaw a dramatic rise in opioid overdose deaths per capita, but she isn’t holding herself responsible for the epidemic either.

There is one candidate in the race for governor who has never intentionally tried to deceive the public for their own political purposes, one candidate who has been fighting for families struggling with substance use disorder for decades, and one candidate who is ready to tackle the opioid epidemic on Day One. That candidate is Cinde Warmington, and I hope you will join me in supporting her for governor.

Democrat Marjorie Smith is a 13-term state representative from Durham.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rep. Smith: Joyce Craig should be ashamed of herself