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N.H.'s Newly Appointed 'Drug Czar' Lays Out Priorities

Peter Biello for NHPR
James Vara will be taking on the role of New Hampshire's 'Drug Czar.'

Thirty-eight-year old James Vara is about to become the state's so-called Drug Czar. For another few weeks, he'll be wrapping up his work as a Senior Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice, but when he starts his new position, he'll be taking a leading role in solving a problem that killed more than four hundred people in New Hampshire last year: the state's opiate addiction crisis. All Things Considered host Peter Biello met with Vara at the Statehouse to talk about what his priorities will be when he officially becomes the Governor's Advisor on Addiction and Behavioral Health.

Listen to the interview:

Peter Biello is the host of All Things Considered and Writers on a New England Stage at New Hampshire Public Radio. He has served as a producer/announcer/host of Weekend Edition Saturday at Vermont Public Radio and as a reporter/host of Morning Edition at WHQR in Wilmington, North Carolina.
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