As the Sept. 10 state primary election draws ever closer, candidates are going full-throttle with attack ads. Last week, the attack-du-jour was between Democratic candidates for governor, Joyce Craig and Cinde Warmington.

Warmington, an executive councilor, and Craig, the former Manchester mayor, each accused the other of a poor record on fighting New Hampshire’s opioid epidemic. Warmington testified in support of Purdue Pharma’s Oxycontin drug back in 2002; Craig oversaw a rise in opioid overdoses in Manchester during her second term as mayor.

Drug overdoses claim hundreds of lives each year in the Granite State, and according to the most recent state data available, in 2022, fentanyl was involved in most of them. Here’s how candidates from both parties plan to address the epidemic.

As a lawyer, Warmington specialized in healthcare law and said she’s spent decades advocating for access to addiction and mental health services. She argues that when she lobbied for Oxycontin in 2002, she didn’t know about the potential dangers of the drug, although warnings were already circulating about its potential for abuse at that time. She said there are five tenets to tackling the opioid epidemic in New Hampshire: prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery and enforcement.

“We just really need to make sure we are leaning in on all facets of this issue so that we can finally solve this problem,” Warmington said. “I am clearly the one candidate that has the most experience, and [I’m] personally committed to getting this issue resolved.” She said it’s personal for her because her dad struggled with addiction throughout his adult life.

Craig said she’s dealt closely with the opioid crisis in Manchester. From that experience, she believes the state needs to coordinate more with cities and towns to increase funding for treatment and recovery.

She wants the state to listen to localities about how the epidemic presents in their area — Craig said funding gets sent to communities but isn’t helping where it’s needed.

Manchester’s Doorway office, for example, is close to a parole office — many people are nervous to go there for help, Craig said.

“We provided this feedback, and it’s not being heard,” Craig said.

Craig credited her administration with overseeing a decrease in opioid overdose deaths in Manchester. Later in her tenure, though, those rose back around the original levels during the pandemic. Craig said there are “clearly ups and downs.”

Republican Kelly Ayotte emphasizes the criminal aspect of the issue. She said she’d come down “much harder” on fentanyl dealers.

Drug gangs are “killing our citizens and profiting off that,” Ayotte said, adding that it’s a border security issue and fentanyl is trafficked in from the southern U.S. border. “I think tougher penalty for those dealers is important.”

Ayotte also said New Hampshire should focus more on building up prevention efforts in schools and having open conversations to educate people about how addiction can start and take hold. She also supports the Doorway program, a grant-funded service that helps Granite Staters struggling with substance use disorder take the first step into recovery. The Doorway has nine locations across the state, from Berlin to Nashua.

Chuck Morse’s campaign didn’t respond to an interview request prior to publication of this article. Ayotte’s opponent said in a debate on Tuesday that the U.S. needs to close all its borders to keep drugs from coming into the country. He said reelecting former president Trump is imperative to fixing that issue.

Jon Kiper, another Democrat running for governor, said he has a personal connection to the opioid epidemic having watched former classmates and acquaintances struggle with addiction that started with opioids and escalated. There’s no silver-bullet solution to this crisis, he said – it requires a holistic approach of prevention, harm reduction and recovery efforts.

The hardest part, Kiper said, the person needs to want to stop using the drug and it takes hitting rock bottom for many people to want to seek help.

“We’ve got to sort of be there for them when they’re ready to take those steps toward sobriety,” Kiper said.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.