President Biden, in State of the Union, acknowledges New Hampshire father whose daughter died from fentanyl

President Biden paid tribute during his State of the Union address Tuesday night to a New Hampshire father who lost his daughter to a fentanyl overdose and now works to support other families affected by substance abuse.

More than an hour into the president’s speech, he said that there was man in the House Chamber, whom he identified only as Doug, from Newton, N.H.. The man wrote a letter to the president and first lady Jill Biden about his daughter, Courtney.

The man is Doug Griffin, whose daughter died in 2014, the Associated Press reported.

“Contagious laugh. Her sister’s best friend,” the president said. “He shared a story all too familiar to millions of Americans, and many of you in the audience. Courtney discovered pills in high school. It spiraled into addiction and eventually her death from a fentanyl overdose. She was just 20 years old.”

Biden said Doug described the eight years since his daughter’s death in agonizing terms: “There is no worse pain.”

“Yet their family has turned pain to purpose, working to end stigma and change laws,” Biden said. “He told us he wants to start a journey toward American recovery. Doug, we’re with you.”