Democrats and Republicans can, apparently, agree on drugs

When facts are straight,
two sides can find common ground

Partisan issues will always be ones where Democrats and Republicans struggle to find middle ground.

Other issues, however, are sometimes easier.

Take the current prescription opiate abuse epidemic – along with heroin abuse, meth abuse and all the issues that go with that, says Trempealeau Dem. state rep. Chris Danou.

“Most people on both sides of the aisle recognize this is a big problem,” he said. “I think there’s a general consensus about what the facts and what the problem is. 

“Just staring from there we have an opportunity to say, ‘OK, what are we going to do?'”

Danou recently met with Rep. attorney general Brad Schimel at a law enforcement roundtable in Buffalo County. The two came away convinced that there were non-partisan ways to address issues related to current drug abuse epidemics. 

“One of the problems we have in politics is there isn’t even a basic agreement on the facts, sometimes on some issues,” Danou said. “And, as we see, when people don’t even agree on the facts, then it becomes even more difficult to come to a solution.”

Danou says strategies that came from the meeting included working collaboratively with the state of Minnesota on drug abuse and treatment issues.