Arizona congressional candidate Chris Taylor suspends campaign after overdose
An Arizona congressional candidate has suspended his campaign after suffering a drug overdose.
The now-former candidate is Chris Taylor, an Army veteran who also sits on the city council in the city of Safford, which is in the eastern portion of the state.
“Today, I have suspended my campaign for the US House of Representatives and am seeking treatment for substance abuse disorder,” Mr Taylor said in a statement to NBC News.
“I will fully cooperate with local authorities on any matters arising from my recent relapse and overdose,” he continued.
Mr Taylor was running in the Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District in the state.
According to the Arizona Republic, Mr Taylor is a married father of two who had served two combat tours in Afghanistan, and had suffered from opioid addiction in the past.
That addiction appears to have motivated him in his public life as well, with his campaign claiming he founded a non-profit called Desert Eagle Addiction Recovery that is “dedicated to helping individuals, especially fellow combat veterans, suffering from drug addiction.”
In his statement, Mr Taylor said he “recently relapsed after having so many solid years in sobriety. I have to figure out where I went wrong. Thankfully I have every resource available to me through the Veterans Affairs Administration and I have the strongest support system one could dream of.”
“The only think I can do is face this head on in complete humility and put one foot in front of the other so that I can get the help needed to be the father and husband that my family deserves.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, combat exposure puts troops at a substantial risk for abusing opioids and heroin.
In the general population, the US has encountered an epidemic when it comes to opioid use, with an estimated 10.3 million Americans aged 12 and older abusing the drugs in 2018.
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