President Trump declares opioid epidemic public health emergency

The president’s declaration of a public health emergency does not provide additional federal funding, but it does allow agencies to redirect previously budgeted grant money.

President Donald Trump has declared a new war on drugs, with a softer message for the afflicted. Trump also announced National Prescription Drug Take Back Day will be held on Saturday, which is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Launching a “massive” advertising campaign to discourage people from trying drugs.

The Obama administration in 2015 started offering waivers that states could apply for so larger clinics get reimbursed, and at least four states have received waivers to improve access to treatment.

Haram and Dowd each said Trump’s declaration Thursday could help persuade more people to view addiction with compassion and reduce the stigma associated with it.

Tom Coderre, a former senior official under in Obama’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration office at HHS, echoed that sentiment. “We owe it to our children and our country to do everything in our power to address this national shame and this human tragedy”.

“We must instill a heightened sense of urgency in the White House”, Democratic US Representative Elijah Cummings wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday ahead of the announcement.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 64,000 persons died from overdoses in 2016. Steele provided a list of accomplishments, including strengthening opioid prescribing limits, increasing funding for medication assisted treatment and creating a new treatment model called opioid health homes.

Some were disappointed he didn’t use the Stafford Act mechanism to fight the problem because it would have made more money available.

But multiple Obama administration health officials told CNN that they believe using the Public Health Services Act is the more appropriate avenue.

But Trump also laid out ways in which his administration would be attempting to combat the opioid epidemic.

Trump said he would swiftly “review and evaluate” recommendations due next week from his opioid commission and promised to fight illegal drug shipments from countries like China. They said any national resources and attention that could be devoted to the issue will help save lives.

“We can not allow this to continue”, Trump said.

The US government will be working with doctors and medical professionals to implement best practices for “safe opioid prescribing” and “requiring federally employed prescribers” to receive special training.

The move is different from the broad order Trump previewed over the last few months.

Andrew Kolodny, the co-director of opioid policy research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, told the Times that an emergency declaration would not do much to combat the crisis without substantial federal funding and a strategy for overhauling America’s addiction-treatment system.

So it’s fair to say the Trump plan is an important but preliminary step.

Officials said the emergency would be in effect for 90 days and can be repeatedly renewed.

Trump said the Department of Homeland Security and United States Postal Service have enhanced their investigation methods for imports of fentanyl, which is 50 times more deadly than heroin.

But critics said Thursday’s words weren’t enough.