Lawmakers approve temporary extension for ‘drug czar’ position

The Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee voted to accept a $112,500 grant to fund the state's so-called "drug czar" through December. John ‘Jack’ Wozmak will continue to hold the office officially titled Senior Director for Substance Misuse and Behavioral Health thanks to grant money from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, which provided the original funding to create the position. 

Senate Finance Chair Jeanie Forrester argued, “The fact that it is grant money and not state money, I am going to support this.” 

Some lawmakers, including Sen. Andy Sanborn, have called that Wozmak step down, citing a failure to communicate with local officials. “We don’t have the answers, we don’t have the coordination, we don’t have the right guy in the job,” Sanborn told reporters earlier in the week. 

Wozmak, who was appointed to the position by Gov. Hassan in January, countered by telling committee members he had spoken with over 140 stakeholders in NH. Wozmak recently released a list of twenty-two recommendations for combating opioid abuse in the state. 

House Finance Chair Neal Kurk expressed skepticism of Wozmak’s recommendations. “If you come up with a list of recommendations, shouldn’t there be dollar signs attached to it?” Kurk asked during the hearing. Kurk also said that the question of whether the ‘drug czar’ office would continue to be funded beyond December would still need to be considered by legislators.