EDITORIAL: Crisis declared, it’s time to get to work
It's more than just rhetoric. Trump's formal declaration paves the way for a spending plan that, he promises, will include money to fight this deadly problem. Significantly, he plans to bypass rules that now keep Medicaid money from going toward addiction treatment programs.
"No part of our society -- not young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural -- has been spared this plague of drug addiction and this horrible, horrible situation that's taken place with opioids," Trump said in making his declaration.
Yet, as significant as his announcement is, especially in terms of drawing renewed focus to this unyielding problem, a speech and spending plan aren't enough. Indeed, the actions of Trump's administration so far have fallen short of his campaign promises for a robust response. Developments inside the
The good news is that Trump has a strategy for addressing the crisis. Let's hope he implements it.
We caught a glimpse of the approach earlier this year when a commission assembled by Trump detailed nine ways the administration could go about dealing with the spread of opioids and addiction..
For example, the panel urged the Trump administration to put its shoulder behind prescription drug monitoring programs. A
Another important strategy offered by the commission is developing technology that can detect trace amounts of fentanyl, the dangerously potent synthetic, in the mail or at the border.
Another of its ambitious objectives is putting doses of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone in the hands of every police officer in America.
Members of the commission, which is led by
Such a broad declaration may not be necessary, and it's certainly not as important as Trump's team buckling down on the plan put in front of them, which is expected to be finalized when the opioid commission follows up later this month.
The stakes in this crisis continue to grow. Nearly 60,000 people died last year due to opioids. Some 2,000 of them were residents of
This crisis has done untold damage in our region, and every day seems to bring a new example of how it has affected lives of people who've never used opioids.
First responders are wary of incidental content with fentanyl and its more powerful opiate cousin, carfentanil. Parents of those who've struggled with addictions, or died because of them, now are raising their grandchildren.
Even the smallest creatures are affected. In
As the crisis continues to sprawl, it's assuring to hear our president give it the attention it deserves. Now,
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