Hillary Clinton
continues to highlight substance abuse and mental health issues in her campaign after hearing from voters that these are problems they face that aren't addressed enough by policy-makers. The campaign is seeking input and starting to talk about needed policies:
Clinton senior policy advisers Ann O'Leary and Maya Harris participated in Google hangouts Thursday and Friday with treatment providers, law enforcement officers, local politicians and others in Iowa and New Hampshire, a Clinton aide said. The groups discussed the scourge of opiate addiction, which is decimating [sic] New Hampshire and is a growing problem in Iowa, and the use of methamphetamines in Iowa. [...]
A Clinton adviser said the candidate thinks that treatment facilities must be adequately funded and insurance companies should approach treating addiction as they would any other chronic disease. This person said that Clinton's conversations on the trail and her advisers' discussions with people working on the issue have made the subject a priority for her campaign.
It's not one of the top 10 expected issues for a presidential candidate, but that's what happens when you talk to people in depth. And considering how many low-level drug offenders and people with mental illness are in America's prisons, these are issues that feed into criminal justice system reforms as well.