Hillary Clinton advocated for more rehabilitation programs and less jail time during a substance abuse forum in West Virginia on Tuesday.
“We can’t keep losing people like this, predominantly not completely young people, who have so many things to look forward to, so much ahead of them,” Clinton said while in Charleston, W.Va., the area with the highest per capita overdose rate in the country.
Joined by West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and members of the local community affected by addiction, Clinton discussed the importance of drug prevention and rehabilitation programs. She explained that from a cost-benefit perspective, it’s much less expensive to enroll addicts in a rehabilitation program than eventually put them in jail or take them to the emergency room. Right now only 28 of West Virginia’s 55 counties have drug courts. Clinton pledged to work with Manchin to bring such programs to all 55 counties if elected president.
“It’s not clear what works with whom. Sometimes tough love, hearing that jail door and dropping to your knees, works. Sometimes getting right into that recovery program works,” Clinton said. “We need to try different things…we cannot arrest and incarcerate our way out of this, we need to focus on children.”
This is not the first time Clinton has advocated drug rehabilitation reform on the campaign trail. While campaigning in New Hampshire in January and February, the former secretary of state proposed programs to curb the state’s growing heroin epidemic. West Virginians will head to the primary polls next Tuesday May 10.
While little polling has been done in the state, the latest polls show Bernie Sanders leading Clinton by 28 points in the rural state.
