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Jay Gonzalez on Drugs |
A: This is a huge crisis in our state. It is ruining people's lives. It is tearing families apart. When I was CEO of my health insurance company, (CeltiCare Health) the biggest health problem that people my company served faced was addiction. It was the biggest cause of hospitalizations, drug costs, everything. So we really focused on what can we do differently to help support our members who are suffering from addiction and get them on a path to recovery. There's no silver bullet solution, but we're not doing nearly enough right now. We need to invest in the treatment and support system so that we've got the capacity to address the demand. Part of what's happening is there aren't enough of the right treatment facilities for people to access when they need them, depending on the type of treatment they need when they're in recovery, so they're dropping out and falling off of recovery.
A: The people have spoken and we have an obligation as a state to implement the law as passed by the voters. I think we need to implement it thoughtfully, though. We need to keep public safety at the forefront. I do think there's a role for the legislature to play now to review the law and make tweaks to those ends, but I think they need to do it as quickly as they can while maintaining the fundamental premise that was passed by voters.
Q: There's been some discussion about how much control local officials will have over allowing recreational marijuana in their own community. Do you support local communities having more or less control?
A: My personal feeling is that localities should have some level of control, but I would be deferential to whatever the ballot question that was passed says on that point.