Richard Baum, the acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, right, Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, center, and Vermont Human Services Secretary Al Gobeille answer questions at a news conference on Monday, July 10, 2017 in Burlington, Vt. Baum, the White House "drug czar" praised Vermont for its opioid addiction treatment system, which he said is a valuable national model. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)
Richard Baum, the acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, right, Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, center, and Vermont Human Services Secretary Al Gobeille answer questions at a news conference on Monday, July 10, 2017 in Burlington, Vt. Baum, the White House "drug czar" praised Vermont for its opioid addiction treatment system, which he said is a valuable national model. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke) Credit: ap — Lisa Rathke

Burlington — The White House “drug czar” on Monday praised Vermont — a pioneering state in the fight against opioid abuse — calling its opioid addiction treatment system an “an incredibly valuable national model” that is being emulated around the country.

During a two-day visit to the state, Richard Baum, the acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and his staff planned to talk with members of Vermont’s opioid and drug misuse prevention, treatment, recovery and enforcement communities.

On Monday, he attended a meeting of the Governor’s Opioid Coordination Council before speaking with Republican Gov. Phil Scott at a news conference in Burlington.

“What Vermont has accomplished by establishing a unique hub and spoke system for responding to the opioid crisis is an incredibly valuable national model,” he said. “It demonstrates that when states, local government, and communities and others work together to meet challenges, we can begin to turn the tide of this awful epidemic.”

Former Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, highlighted the use of heroin and abuse of prescription painkillers by devoting nearly his entire State of the State address to it in 2014. He described it “as a crisis bubbling just beneath the surface” and called on the Legislature to pass laws encouraging treatment and to seek ideas on how to prevent addiction.