President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national public emergency on Thursday. His declaration is effective for 90 days and it is renewable.
In his remarks at the White House, Trump noted that 64,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses last year. There is a huge increase in addiction to heroine, painkillers, and other opioids, which result to overdose deaths.
Additionally, the President noted that nearly one million Americans used heroine and 11 million abused prescription opioids last year. Since 1999, the deaths caused by opioid overdose quadrupled, which is “shocking,” according to the President.
According to Trump, “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue. It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction. Never been this way. We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic. We can do it.”
In March, the White House created the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Trump is waiting the final reports and recommendations of the Commission.
