MANCHESTER, N.H. — Organizers kept the secret under wraps but the surprise speaker for the first New Hampshire Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness was U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The crowd, including more than 8,000 middle and high school students, appeared shocked at Sessions’ attendance. He said he cleared his schedule to be there.

“We need to stop the thugs and gangs that use violence and extortion to move their products,” Sessions said.

The Summit has been specifically designed to address the growing opioid epidemic by promoting healthy choices and educating students about the dangers of opioid abuse. Opioid abuse has reached epidemic levels across the country in recent years, with more 2,000 fatal overdoses in Massachusetts alone last year.

Shortly after Sessions spoke, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu took the stage. 

In the next couple of weeks, he told the crowd, “we’re going to roll out a prevention plan that this state has never seen.”

Details for this story were provided by the North Andover, Massachusetts Eagle-Tribune.