4 governors on the issues facing their states

and we're back with governor sununu and we're joined by Democrat Wes Moore who was just sworn in as Maryland's first black Governor Michelle Luan Grisham is the Democratic governor of New Mexico Republican Doug burgum is the governor of North Dakota and it's good to have you all here at the table together I want to talk about some of these issues of common cause Governor burgum I know the fentanyl crisis the drug crisis was a topic at the White House in recent days your state is one of six with the lowest rates of drug overdose deaths according to CDC how is that possible when this is a national crisis well I think all of our Governors were all border states now with the fentanyl that's coming into this country perhaps manufactured in China coming across the southern border but in North Dakota we've really taken an approach of understanding that if you're going to have a War on Drugs which is this thing we've been doing in our country since the 1970s and 80s it can become a war on people who have a health issue they've got addiction is a disease and so we want to be very tough on the people that are importing and distributing but we also have to understand that if people have the disease of addiction it's not a moral choice or a failure and so we've taken a approach on a number of fronts one of the things that's been most successful is is it treating the disease of addiction is with peer support Specialists because we know now that someone who's got lived experience whether that's in the criminal justice system or living with the disease of addiction and in recovery that they can help people through it as much as a an addiction counselor so the whole approach is we've turned it towards one of of treating this as a National Health crisis which it is so we want to be tough on suppliers but we want to be super supportive of those appreciate that approach that is probably going to be the Nexus of real bipartisan work uh in New Mexico we have a significant issue with substance abuse and overdose deaths and I wish I could tell you that fentanyl is not a problem it is and in fact we were part of uh FBI staying with one of the largest fentanyl busts in United States history a million pills 2 million in cash but we didn't have any behavioral health system when I uh became Governor the former Administration literally canceled Behavioral Health and there were no providers they were all in litigation everybody left to other states so now you have a crisis on top of a National Building crisis that covid did none of us any favors to really address evidence-based work about making sure that treatment is available is exactly how we're going to get ahead of this so all of The Upfront so dealing with poverty and food security and jobs and workers and good education while we're treating folks who are currently dealing with this disease and I think we can start to do that regionally with Creative Solutions that allow Medicaid to pay for services across States when it's Behavioral Health and we've eliminated co-pays for Behavioral Health Services and is this is something you're asking the Fed government for help to do you know I didn't actually do that during that we have very it's a limited who can ask questions and that sounds uh awful we want to make sure that we're all benefiting by a topic matter that we can all take back with us and get a sense where the federal government is headed but the Western Governors Association which is another really effective example about bipartisan work we're interested in taking on Behavioral Health in a more Regional effort and following some of the best practices of North Dakota absolutely is going to make its way into achievements and better outcomes in New Mexico Governor Moore I mean you're new on the job but what is it that you plan to execute to deal with this problem well you know I think what was said here was was is a really important point where we cannot go through the processing the idea that we're going to criminalize our way out of this and I think we've learned that throughout this process that we're dealing with behavioral health and mental health when you look at the proposed budget that we laid out our proposed budget it makes historic increases increases of 39 percent that's actually focusing exclusively on substance abuse disorders on making sure that we're actually helping people when they're returning from incarceration things like how are we dealing with uh elements of record expungement job retraining job reskilling making sure there's a better reintegration with the family but there has to be a larger holistic way in the way that we are dealing with this challenge because it is true we have spent two decades now dealing with a Behavioral Health Challenge essentially by criminalizing it and there are long-term consequences Economic Consequences societal consequences that I know in the state of Maryland uh that we are aggressively pushing on within the way our Administration is looking at this work we were looking at some of the research in Maryland in one County they've had to use Narcan on students 11 times in the past year and you're actually putting this in the schools because this is so common because because we have to and that's the thing as an Administration I always say you know as a leader I am data driven and heart-led right I I I wear my part of my sleeve but I don't move without data and the data has been so clear about the damage that this has done to our communities both urban and rural I mean children apparently and children and to the point where we've actually now appointed a special secretary uh who's a former mayor of Hagerstown who actually got into politics uh because of the issue of opioid addiction had her best friend lost to an overdose who is now serving as our special secretary on this exact issue you were nodding at the Narcan in the school oh yeah absolutely look one of the biggest issues is this is a drug when someone overdoses to basically help and Narcan works for the most part we can talk about where it doesn't work but schools you need access points to schools kids need to know that um that there there is help there what those systems are rural access to care is absolutely huge people have to understand it's not a 28-day problem right that's old school thinking sometimes recovery is a lifelong journey so you need you need recovery friendly workplaces you need wraparound housing and those types of services understand that also the fentanyl crisis that's now being mixed with everything it's it's in Vape cartridges it's in marijuana it's being mixed with xylazine and let me tell you if you don't understand the xylazine fentanyl crisis that's coming it's horrid it negates the ability of of a Narcan to revive you uh and it's so the mixing of everything I call it a cartel driven crisis and I was no longer over prescription that's always part of it but the cartels have such access and and they they're basically are creating their own markets they're putting it in Adderall they're put they're mixing it with with black market Adderall they're mixing it with people buying it Black Market as inflation goes up more people go to buy their Pharmaceuticals offline and so they're going to get Adderall for the kids offline it becomes mixed or the kids try to buy Vape cartridges offline and it comes mixed with fentanyl and the dealers know look we might lose a couple but we're going to create addicts out of it and so the crisis is the mixing we have so many folks that overdose that had no idea they were even doing but we need to be careful in my view that we don't do this Paradigm you know just shifting from one extreme to the other absolutely organized crime and cartels which are embedded in every state have to be held accountable and we all collectively that's a federal and state by state issue and you have asked the federal government for more FBI agents and they denied you that request well that's so far let's I'm I'm tenacious I'm gonna I'm bet on me I'm gonna get those agents but to your point if we were all using our National Guard to some degree we need we need them for our own State emergencies but if we were doing drug interdiction work then we're dealing with the bad guys and gals in this system and we need to do that collectively instead we're doing it I do a little you do a little you do we should be doing it collectively that's the right kind of leveraging one thing that we've stopped even using the word overdose because no one is making a choice uh to kill themselves as Chris was saying I mean these people don't know what they're taking we have an epidemic of just huge proportions like we've never had before and and you talked about FBI one of the things that's happening Across the Western in the U.S on all of the the tribal lands like The Sovereign Nations that we share geography with in North Dakota is they don't have enough bi agents the federal government they're trying to get FBI so the the Bureau of Indian Affairs that would be doing that drug interdiction their Staffing is way down organized crime is preying on those tribal communities and that's where they're basing their operations out of and you're saying that in your tribes they're seeing that too yes um I want to this is a huge topic but I want to make sure I get to you on the issue of abortion because of course the Supreme Court through this back to state capitals in June when they overturned Roe versus Wade Governor burgum the very last abortion provider in your state left after that Supreme Court decision what has been the impact of that well not having that care well in the in the case of this case because the last one was in Fargo it moved about 400 yards it's now in Minnesota uh so the effect of uh people having access to care has uh really they leave well they leave but they're going 400 yards further east and I think this is this is uh what will happen across our nation uh it's now back in the hands of States uh North Dakota has proven that The Ballot Box the citizens voting uh our legislature uh very much is a pro-life with exception States uh and so this is a uh something that that the state of North Dakota has been pursuing for a long time but as Chris was talking about the earlier segment this is something that I think states can decide and I think it ought to be cited at the state level it's a long way for a lot of people to travel though if they're not in Fargo no I mean what has been the impact and we're seeing we're seeing women all across America come to New Mexico and it is a long way to travel and what about Aftercare and what about your family and what about the other potential family members like other small children it is catastrophic this is where I think constitutional rights are a federal matter making sure that wherever I live in this country one country that my constitutional rights my bodily autonomy ought to be protected and with all due respect for people who have moral uh who morally oppose my position on abortion they don't have to seek that care but women who need that care get limited or reduced or eliminated access and women die all across this country and we're going backward and I I could not disagree more with my good friend Doug about well I want to ask you in a very specific issue how you are planning to spend this forward because abortions legal New Hampshire Maryland New Mexico the majority of abortions provided in this country happen via pill these days and there's a Texas Court decision that is pending that might strike down FDA approval as I understand it are you preparing are you stockpiling the drug are you planning at all we are we are preparing as long as I'm the governor of the state of Maryland uh that Maryland will be a safe haven for abortion rights I believe abortion is Health Care this is really about how are we coming up with multiple ways of preparing for this and ensuring that all women know that we believe that their health their safety and their security and of the providers is something that should be guaranteed in the state of Maryland are you stockpiling drug or no well not yet stop playing the drug but we are brown preparation but I think that stockpiling might be if I can push back a little of the world the wrong question do we have enough of those drugs available in places and each State's going to be a little different but you can get those in our Public Health System we're moving towards uh tribal Nations providing access in any number of ways including abortion direct abortion care inside clinic in addition and the chilling effect of not having these medications now routinely manufactured is they're used to treat men and women for other like bleeding ulcers we're going to have deaths unrelated because doctors are saying in my state I can't prescribe this so this decision could have an even more chilling effect so we're trying to figure out ways can we get a manufacturer how much do we have how long does it last what are we doing about contraceptives and contraceptive care and sex education and school-based health centers so all of the above approach we're in governors thank you very much for your time today there's so much more to talk to you about I enjoyed this we'll be back in a moment

Channel: Face the Nation

Views: 56,933

Keywords: Face the Nation, CBS News, video, Margaret Brennan, U.S., politics, Chris Sununu, New Hampshire, Wes Moore, Maryland, Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico, Doug Burgum, North Dakota, opioid, crisis, abortion

Id: mRKuK5s5no0

Length: 12min 39sec (759 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 12 2023