New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is continuing his push to “destigmatize” drug addiction, and released a new video sympathetically telling the stories of former drug addicts from all walks of life and income levels.
“Someone with pearls around their neck cooking a family dinner can be prescribed Xanax and can be hooked and be an addict,” said one former addict featured in the video.
“People who are wealthy get addicted, people who are poor get addicted…the disease does not discriminate against anybody,” said another.
On camera, Christie tells the story of his best friend from law school who died six months ago after battling an addiction to pain killers and alcohol.
“They found him dead in a motel room at 52 years old,” Christie said. “This is not just for young people. This is not just about the poor, this is not just about the uneducated, this is about anyone, at any time could fall victim to this. And I miss my friend.”
Christie told people “who don’t know” to stop prematurely judging those suffering from addiction: “Unfortunately people who don’t know believe that there’s gotta be something morally wrong with you to have this addiction. I just would say to anybody who has got those pre-judgements to stop pre-judging.”
Christie has called for treating nonviolent drug offenders, rather than serving them with jail time, but will not support decriminalizing drugs altogether.
“I don’t think we should be telling our children this is OK. And by decriminalizing it, I think we’re telling them it’s OK,” he told CNN recently.
He has, however, sharply criticized the “War on Drugs,” telling CBS “It is a dismal failure.”
Watch Christie’s video below:
