The Democratic candidate for Connecticut governor said he'll create an "opioid czar" if he's elected in November.
"The opioid crisis is touching every corner of our state," Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont said Friday, and that's why he wants a cabinet-level position to oversee what he calls a crisis. The proposed czar would report directly to the governor.
Lamont announced his proposal during a visit to the Fair Haven Community Health Center in New Haven, a city where a batch of synthetic marijuana has been blamed for sending more than 100 people to the hospital. He said his proposed czar would also oversee the state's response to such non-opioid overdose spikes.
Last year, there were 1,038 drug overdose deaths in Connecticut.
The campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski did not immediately respond to a message from the Associated Press.
