Christie plans $15M to fight pill addiction

NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie has become a leader in the fight against drugs and prescription painkillers.

The Garden State is reportedly poised to spend at least $15 million on an anti-drug advertising campaign. Christie has also recruited local sports teams to help fight the epidemic, which killed close to 1,000 New Jersey residents in 2015.

On the federal level, the Republican has become President Trump’s de facto anti-drug czar.

After he was passed over for a White House job, Christie decided to focus on issues in New Jersey. But Trump still appointed him the chairman of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

Overdose deaths in New Jersey jumped more than 16% between 2014 and 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Christie’s office unveiled a 30-second anti-drug ad earlier this month — the latest of several to run since the year began.