Forum on addictions draws candidate aides By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
PLAISTOW – Matthew Walker is getting the help he needs, but it's costing him.
He's a recovering drug addict who spends $100 a week to receive treatment at a methadone clinic in Newington three days a week.
Walker has been visiting the clinic for about a year and a half.
"We're talking pretty serious money," the 36-year-old New London man said.
When he first began looking into treatment, Walker hoped insurance would cover it. But with the co-payments that were required for each visit, he said, he was better off paying out of his own pocket.
Realizing the financial burdens facing many addicts just like him, Walker turned out at a Presidential Town Hall Meeting yesterday to urge presidential candidates to take a serious look at the many drug, alcohol and mental health issues plaguing New Hampshire and the nation.
Candidates themselves did not attend the statewide meeting, at the Timberlane Regional Performing Arts Center, but representatives from several presidential campaigns listened to recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, their families, friends, law enforcement officers and others.
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