Congressman David Rouzer met with New Hanover County and Wilmington city officials today, to discuss issues that impact the area and the country. At the top of the list for the Republican from North Carolina’s 7th District is opioid addiction.
Congressman Rouzer is here for a debrief on what he’s been working on in Washington DC. Healthcare reform is on hold, he says, and tax reform may be next year. Today, Rouzer is thinking about the drug issue.
“The opioid epidemic is truly that – it’s an epidemic. We’ve got to get our hands around it, we need a tremendous amount of education, at the local level. We need to pull in law enforcement. All of our mayors, local officials, federal officials. To collaborate on what we can do together to address this issue.”
Rouzer is planning a fall symposium on the opioid challenge.
He also discussed GenX, and keeping the water clean.
“All of it can be handled at the state level. There’s nothing in federal law, and nothing in state law that prohibits the state from addressing any emerging contaminant, any way that it chooses to, even without legislation at the state level.”
He adds that the EPA has been monitoring the situation in the Cape Fear Region.