Christie, Pelosi help launch drug rehab center

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats at the opening of a drug rehabilitation center here, Gov. Christie continued Monday to advocate for treating nonviolent offenders instead of jailing them, saying that changing attitudes on the topic will require political courage.

To break a cycle of recidivism for inmates who do not receive treatment, leaders must articulate the problem, Christie said: "We don't have enough people saying it."

While he said some may worry about being seen as soft on crime for endorsing alternatives to incarceration, the Republican governor, a former federal prosecutor, said the approach he advocates isn't lax.

"What it does is make you smart about how to deal with the crime issues we have in our country," he said.

Christie made his remarks in a conversation with Democratic former Gov. Jim McGreevey during the event, which celebrated the opening of Martin's Place, a center named after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that offers former inmates on-site addiction treatment and help finding transitional housing and work. A packed lineup of political figures attended, including Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and former Govs. Thomas H. Kean and Brendan T. Byrne.

The topic was a familiar one for Christie, who joined McGreevey earlier this year at the Hudson County jail - the site of a program offering addiction treatment to inmates - for a conversation focused on drug rehabilitation.

Christie has expanded the state's drug court program, mandating treatment for nonviolent offenders, and pushed changes passed by the Legislature this summer intended to keep poor defendants from being jailed before trial because they cannot afford bail. Voters will decide another change in November that would allow judges to hold some defendants without bail.

Christie said Monday that changing the approach to dealing with drug offenders on a national level would require leaders to acknowledge that the so-called war on drugs has been "a failure" - a phrase he has used before - and that addiction is a disease. He does not advocate decriminalization of drugs.

"Then we can begin to remove the stigma," Christie said. With "any other disease," he said, "of course, the first thing you would say to a friend is to go and get treatment. Not to go to jail."

The governor, who previously has spoken of a friend who died after a struggle with addiction, said Monday that both personal experience and his Catholic faith had shaped his views on the topic.

Describing a homily on forgiveness that he heard in church Sunday, Christie said his belief in the need to offer rehabilitation was rooted in "mistakes I have made, mistakes people in my family have made, and friends have made, and watching them pay the price for those mistakes."

He repeated his position that being "pro-life" goes beyond the abortion issue. "The kid who's sitting in a jail cell in Hudson County, strung out on heroin, having stolen from his parents or his grandparents . . . it's harder to be in favor of that life," Christie said. "But that child is one of God's creations, just as much as anybody else."

Also speaking at the event was Pelosi, whose granddaughter, Alexandra, made a documentary for HBO about McGreevey's work since his resignation in 2004.

Christie applauded politely as Pelosi touted a federal law that has funded a reentry program at the Hudson County jail. The two held hands during a recitation of the Serenity Prayer initiated by McGreevey and could be seen talking after the ribbon-cutting.

Before Christie's arrival, McGreevey called on the crowd to "give it up" for Pelosi. "We've got to get all these Democratic spirits out of us before the governor shows up," he joked.