The Trump administration has taken steps to address opioid addiction, mostly outside of the emergency declaration, including issuing new guidance for states trying to expand access to inpatient treatment and to advance research into non-opioid pain management. ![]() That measure was introduced last March, well before the emergency declaration, but the administration official said the recent attention helped Congress prioritize it. He pointed to legislation signed into law by Trump on Wednesday that will help Customs and Border Protection agents crack down on the trafficking of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which are responsible for a surge of opioid deaths. The senior White House official said the administration has made significant steps to combat the crisis within the p ast year. An HHS spokesperson declined to provide details on whether and where those powers were used, or on what scale. The emergency designation gave federal health agencies the power to move quickly against the epidemic in several ways, including hiring more treatment specialists and reallocating money to amp up the response. “None of our members have knocked on my door to say they have been provided money or actual people on the ground.” “I have not seen an explosion of activity linked to this declaration,” said Rob Morrison, executive director of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, cautioning that he hasn’t been closely monitoring state activity. “But additional funding and resources would be more helpful.” ![]() “His thoughts and prayers have helped,” Gupta said. In West Virginia, which has the highest drug overdose death rate in the country, Public Health Commissioner Rahul Gupta hasn’t seen any significant change under Trump’s emergency order. Regardless of whether the declaration is renewed, “the president will continue to draw attention to this crisis as a national emergency,” the official said.īut given the record so far, some public health officials question whether it would make much difference. The president’s emergency declaration can be extended, though the White House official said that’s up to the H ealth and H uman S ervices secretary, or, currently, the acting secretary. And key public health and drug posts in the administration remain vacant, so it’s not clear who has the authority to get new programs moving.Ī senior White House official disputed the assessment of inaction, saying the emergency declaration has allowed the president to use “his bully pulpit to draw further attention to this emergency that he inherited.” The official added that the declaration has enabled federal agencies to “really change their focus and prioritize the crisis,” and that getting an effective media campaign underway “takes time.” He promised to roll out a “really tough, really big, really great” advertising campaign to spread awareness about addiction, but that has yet to take shape. Trump has not formally proposed any new resources or spending, typically the starting point for any emergency response. 23, and beyond drawing more attention to the crisis, virtually nothing of consequence has been done.
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