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President Trump Opioid Legislation Press Conference
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Trump expected to sign opioids law at White House event
Oct 24, 2018 | CNN
By Maegan Vazquez
President Donald Trump is expected to sign sweeping opioids legislation into law at the White House Wednesday afternoon during an event marking "a year of action" by the administration to combat the opioid epidemic, a White House official and Republican aide told CNN. -
Trump signing bipartisan measure to confront opioid crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | Associated Press
By Deb Reichmann
President Donald Trump is signing bipartisan legislation to confront the opioid crisis — the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history. -
President Donald J. Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand
Oct 24, 2018 | White House
By Staff
ADDRESSING THE DRIVING FORCES OF THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Donald J. Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse is confronting the driving forces behind the opioid crisis. -
A Year of Historic Action to Combat the Opioid Crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | White House
By Staff
One year ago this week, President Donald J. Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Ever since, the Trump Administration has applied an all-of-Government approach to the epidemic, allowing each agency and department to do their part to help the cause. -
Trump signs bipartisan opioid bill aimed at curbing national crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | Fox News
By Alexandria Hein
President Trump signed a sweeping bipartisan bill into law on Wednesday aimed at making medical treatment for opioid addiction more widely available while also cracking down on illicit drugs being sent through the mail. -
What's included in the opioids bill signed by President Trump
Oct 24, 2018 | USA Today
By John Fritze and David Jackson
President Donald Trump signed a landmark bill Wednesday intended to deal with the nation's opioid epidemic, a bipartisan breakthrough for a crisis claiming tens of thousands of U.S. lives every year. -
Signing Opioid Law, Trump Pledges To End 'Scourge' Of Drug Addiction
Oct 24, 2018 | NPR
By Ayesha Rascoe and Scott Horsley
With the nation reeling from an epidemic of drug overdose deaths, President Trump signed legislation Wednesday that is aimed at helping people overcome addiction and preventing addictions before they start. -
Trump signs sweeping bill aimed at tackling opioid crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | The Hill
By Jessie Hellman
President Trump on Wednesday signed sweeping legislation meant to curb the nation's opioid epidemic. -
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Oct 24, 2018 | National Programming
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Oct 24, 2018 | National Programming
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Oct 24, 2018 | National Programming
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Trump expected to sign opioids law at White House event
Oct 24, 2018 | CNN
By Maegan Vazquez
President Donald Trump is expected to sign sweeping opioids legislation into law at the White House Wednesday afternoon during an event marking "a year of action" by the administration to combat the opioid epidemic, a White House official and Republican aide told CNN.
The wide-reaching legislation "contains more than 70 provisions to expand treatment and recovery, improve prevention, protect our communities, and stop the flow of illicit drugs at our borders," Zach Hunter, communications director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee said in a statement.It also includes provisions aimed at promoting research to find new drugs for pain management that will not be addictive.
It also expands access to treatment for substance use disorders for Medicaid patients.The legislation was approved by a vote of 98-1 in the Senate earlier in October and approved by the House with a vote of 393-8.
A year ago, the Trump administration declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, an action that set priorities in tackling the epidemic and has directed funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services to carry out that mission. Congress has allotted more than $8 billion this year for the opioid crisis. But some experts say that isn't nearly enough and that tens of billions of dollars is needed to back any such effort to combat the crisis.
More than 72,000 Americans died of drug-overdose deaths in 2017 -- up nearly 7% from 2016, according to government data. Opioids contributed to more than 49,000 of those deaths.
New preliminary data published Tuesday from the National Center for Health Statistics showed overdose deaths nationwide, while still exceedingly high, declined in the months leading up to March 2018, the most recent month for which data was reported.
In August, Trump also urged his Attorney General Jeff Sessions to sue certain pharmaceutical companies that have contributed to the opioid crisis in the United States.
The first lady has included the opioid epidemic as one part of her three-pronged Be Best program of helping kids, specifically focused on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Included in the sweeping legislation expected to be signed is "Tyler's Law," an opioid-fighting assistance program.
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Trump signing bipartisan measure to confront opioid crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | Associated Press
By Deb Reichmann
President Donald Trump is signing bipartisan legislation to confront the opioid crisis — the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in U.S. history.
Trump on Wednesday said that “together we are going to end the scourge of drug addiction in America,” or at least do everything possible to limit it.
Nearly 48,000 people died last year from drug overdoses involving opioids. Overall, U.S. drug overdose deaths have started to level off, but U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says it’s too soon to declare victory.
The legislation will add treatment and get the U.S. Postal Service to screen overseas packages for fentanyl, a synthetic form of opioids and a key cause of overdose deaths.
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President Donald J. Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand
Oct 24, 2018 | White House
By Staff
ADDRESSING THE DRIVING FORCES OF THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Donald J. Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse is confronting the driving forces behind the opioid crisis. This Administration secured $6 billion in new funding over two years to fight opioid abuse. The President’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse will: Reduce drug demand through education, awareness, and prevention efforts. Cut off the flow of illicit drugs across our borders and within communities. Save lives by expanding opportunities for evidence-based treatments for opioid addiction. On September 19, 2018, the Administration awarded more than $1 billion in funding to State and local entities to address the opioid crisis. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded $930 million in grants to support prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. Health Resources and Services Administration awarded more than $396 million to 1,232 community health centers, over 120 rural community organizations, and academic institutions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded States, territories, tribes, and partners more than $194 million to bolster prevention and data collection efforts battling this crisis.
REDUCING DEMAND AND OVER-PRESCRIPTION: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative is educating Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse and curbing over-prescription. The Trump Administration is partnering with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Truth Initiative, and Ad Council to prevent the misuse of opioids among young adults. The Administration supports research efforts for innovative therapies to prevent addiction, to offer non-addictive pain management alternatives, and to improve overdose prevention tools. This Administration has nearly doubled funding for opioid and pain research from $600 million to $1.1 billion and is supporting research for a vaccine to prevent opioid addiction. In order to reduce the over-prescription of opioids, the President has implemented a Safer Prescribing Plan that: Seeks to cut nationwide opioid prescription fills by one-third within three years. Calls for 95 percent of opioid prescriptions reimbursed by Federal healthcare to be issued using best practices within five years. Ensures all Federally-employed healthcare providers adopt best practices for opioid prescribing within five years. Helps States transition to a nationally interoperable network of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. Strengthening community-driven responses, the Administration has issued $90.9 million in Drug-Free Communities Support Program grants to 731 local drug prevention coalitions. Efforts to reduce demand and over-prescription are already seeing results. High-dose opioid prescriptions fell by 16 percent since President Trump took office. In 2017, the number of first-time heroin users ages 12 and older fell by more than 50 percent.
CUTTING OFF THE SUPPLY OF ILLICIT DRUGS: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative is cracking down on international and domestic illicit drug supply chains devastating American communities. President Trump is working to keep dangerous drugs out of the United States by: Securing land borders, ports of entry, and waterways against illegal smuggling. Requiring more advance data to flag high-risk international mail shipments. Using advanced drug-detecting canines to inspect high-risk shipments. Testing and identifying suspicious substances in high-risk international packages. Engaging with China and Mexico to reduce supplies of heroin and other illicit opioids. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Task Force is helping to fight the prescription opioid crisis by: Expanding the DOJ Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit’s efforts to prosecute corrupt or criminally negligent doctors, pharmacies, and distributors. Aggressively deploying all available criminal and civil actions to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for any unlawful practices. The Administration will scale up efforts by DOJ’s Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement team to stop illicit opioid sales online. President Trump’s Administration is strengthening criminal penalties for dealing and trafficking opioids in the United States. DOJ will seek the death penalty against drug traffickers, where appropriate under the law. The President supports legislation to reduce the amounts needed to invoke mandatory minimums for drug traffickers knowingly distributing opioids lethal in trace amounts. President Trump’s efforts to cut off the supply of illicit drugs are already seeing results. DOJ shut down the country’s biggest Darknet distributor of drugs. DOJ indicted two Chinese nationals accused of manufacturing and shipping deadly fentanyl and 250 other drugs to at least 25 countries and 37 States. DOJ launched Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge to target fentanyl and heroin dealers in the districts with the most severe overdose deaths. In fiscal year (FY) 2017, DOJ increased the average Federal sentence for drug trafficking to the strongest sentences since 2013. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized more than 2,300 pounds of fentanyl in FY 2017. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) saw a 66 percent increase in the advance electronic data they received on international mail packages in FY 2018 compared to FY 2017.
HELPING THOSE STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative is helping those struggling with addiction through evidence-based treatment and recovery support services. The Administration is working to ensure first responders are supplied with naloxone, a lifesaving medication used to reverse overdoses. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration awarded more than $30 million to States to help people affected by opioid addiction rejoin the workforce. The Trump Administration is empowering local leaders with relevant opioid data to coordinate and optimize their efforts to quickly respond to spikes in overdoses. The Administration is working to expand access to evidence-based addiction treatment in every State and to veterans, particularly Medication-Assisted Treatment for opioid addiction. President Trump supports changing the law prohibiting Medicaid from reimbursing residential treatment at certain facilities with more than 16 beds. In the meantime, the Administration has been approving State Medicaid demonstration projects that address these barriers to inpatient treatment. The Administration supports efforts to identify and treat offenders in the criminal justice system who are struggling with addiction. This includes screening every Federal inmate for opioid addiction at intake. Those who screen positive and are approved for placement in residential reentry may volunteer for naltrexone treatment and be connected with recovery services. The Administration supports drug courts to provide appropriate offenders with treatment as an alternative to incarceration, or as a condition of supervised release. Efforts to provide help to those struggling with addiction are already seeing results. Last year, America had an increase in the number of patients age 12 and older with illicit drug-use disorders being treated at specialty facilities and private provider offices. There has been a more than 20 percent increase in young adults aged 18 to 25 receiving outpatient treatment.
HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL ACTION TO COMBAT THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Trump worked hand in hand with Congress to advance the SUPPORT Act, the single largest legislative package addressing a single drug crisis in history. Among the provisions in this historic legislation are:
IMD CARE Act: Provides States with a Medicaid State plan option to provide residential treatment in facilities (Institutions for Mental Diseases) more than 16 beds, in certain circumstances. STOP Act: Requires the United States Postal Service to share advanced electronic data with CBP on 100 percent of packages entering the country. This will help identify suspicious shipments and stop deadly fentanyl from entering from China and Mexico. CRIB Act: Supports the most vulnerable victims of the opioid crisis by allowing State Medicaid programs to cover healthcare services to infants suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome in pediatric recovery centers. Currently, pediatric recovery centers cannot bill Medicaid for services to babies in withdrawal, thereby limiting how many families they are able to serve. CARA 2.0 Act: Increases the funding authorization levels for certain programs enacted in 2016 under the CARA Act. Youth Prevention and Recovery: Leverages existing job training resources to create a pilot program to address workforce shortages exacerbated by the opioid crisis. This will help employers fill job openings and get those in recovery back on their feet. ONDCP Reauthorization: Reauthorizes ONDCP and allows its media campaigns to focus on anti-drug messages for all age groups, not just youth as the law currently states. This also reauthorizes the Drug-Free Communities Support Program and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program. Improving Recovery and Reunifying Families Act: Authorizes $15 million for a “recovery coach” program for parents with children in foster care due to parental substance use. The goal of the program is to reduce the length of time children spend in foster care due to a parent who is struggling with a substance use disorder. CAREER Act: Improves resources and wrap-around support services for those recovering from a substance use disorder who are transitioning from treatment programs to the workforce. This includes $25 million authorized for workforce participation grants.
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A Year of Historic Action to Combat the Opioid Crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | White House
By Staff
One year ago this week, President Donald J. Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Ever since, the Trump Administration has applied an all-of-Government approach to the epidemic, allowing each agency and department to do their part to help the cause.
This is a crisis that cannot be solved through Government action alone. Private-sector and nonprofit partners are stepping up and stepping in to make a difference. Today, President Trump hosted 21 of these organizations at the White House. Their work is innovative, groundbreaking, and promising for the millions of Americans who struggle with addiction or support loved ones who do.
Amazon
Mr. Brian Huseman, Vice President, Public Policy
Amazon will help first responders more efficiently access critical medical records and has programmed Alexa voice service to answer important questions about opioids and addiction.
Belden Industries
Mr. John Stroup, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
Belden will expand their rehab and employment program to two additional U.S. facilities in 2019 and provide a Blueprint for companies to adopt to recruit and retain employees supporting recovery.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Mr. Scott P. Serota, President and CEO
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association will launch Blue Distinction® Centers for Substance Use Treatment and Recovery and will establish a toll-free national hotline to provide all Americans a way to locate designated treatment centers.
Cigna
Mr. Alan Muney, Chief Medical Officer
Cigna will partner with the Veterans Health Administration to help veterans manage pain, improve access to opioid addiction treatment and improve mental well-being, and will work to reduce opioid-related overdoses in various communities by 25 percent within three years.
CVS Health
Mr. Thomas Moriarty, Executive Vice President, Chief Policy & External Affairs Officer, and General Counsel
CVS Health is committed to installing 1,100 additional permanent medication disposal units in communities and reaching 250,000 students and parents with its opioid abuse prevention program by the end of 2019.
Dispose RX
Mr. John Holaday, CEO
DisposeRx is committed to stopping opioid abuse, by contributing DisposeRx packets that can remove over 10 million opioids from our nation’s medicine cabinets.
Emergent BioSolutions
Mr. Mike Kelly, President US Operations
Emergent BioSolutions will offer Free NARCAN® Nasal Spray to all 16,568 public libraries and to each of the 2,700 YMCA locations in the United States.
Facebook
Mr. Kevin Martin, Vice President, US Public Policy
Facebook is committed to addressing the opioid epidemic through impactful public-private partnerships including: a link to SAMHSA’s Helpline in Search, and supporting the Ad Council PSA and DEA Takeback Day.
Global Teen Challenge
Mr. Ed DeShields, Board Member
Global Teen Challenge, the largest treatment center worldwide, is building a national Treatment Information System so its 250 U.S. treatment centers can understand which recovery programs are showing the most promise of success from addiction.
Google
Ms. Susan Molinari, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs
Google has created a Locator Tool for National Take Back Day that they’ll promote on the Google.com homepage, and will launch a partnership with Walgreens to display permanent drug disposal locations on Google Maps.
Johnson & Johnson
Ms. Linda Murray, Senior Vice President, Consumer Experience and Global Editor in Chief, BabyCenter
Johnson & Johnson will continue educating America’s nurses and physicians to fight substance abuse and launched an opioid addiction awareness campaign that reached more than 2.5 million expectant parents via BabyCenter.
Leidos
Mr. Roger Krone, Chairman and CEO
Leidos is committing to an additional $3 million to opioid related causes, and furthering efforts to educate our workforce of 32,000 employees and launching a coalition of dozens of companies to address the crisis.
MyPillow
Mr. Mike Lindell, CEO
MyPillow employs workers directly after graduating from faith-based drug treatment and will soon launch the Lindell Recovery Network to bring hope, recovery and mentorship to thousands struggling with opioid addiction.
National Head Start Association
Mr. Damon Carson, Board Chairman
The Head Start community will expand training to all 245,792 staff in over 21,000 centers nationwide to address the far-reaching impacts of parent substance-use disorder on young children and families
National Safety Council
Ms. Debbie Hersman, CEO
National Safety Council will spread awareness of the crisis through the Prescribed to Death traveling Memorial, and will educate 1,000 more physicians on safer prescribing practices.
Red Cross
Mr. Jack McMaster, President, American Red Cross Training Services
Red Cross will offer our online course, First Aid for Opioid Overdoses, to give all Americans the knowledge to respond to a suspected opioid overdose emergency and will integrate opioid education in over 3 million annual first aid trainings.
Rite Aid
Ms. Jocelyn Konrad, Executive Vice President for Pharmacy
Rite Aid is offering free DisposeRx packets with new opioid prescriptions. Its Foundation installed 312 medication disposal units and launched the Prescription Drug Safety Initiative for students across the country.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Mr. Lawrence Epstein, Senior Executive Vice President and COO
UFC commits to launching a public service campaign to bring attention to the opioid crisis, using UFC athletes, its powerful social media platforms, and popular live events to educate millions of people on the dangers of opioid abuse.
Unshattered
Ms. Kelly Lyndgaard, Founder and CEO
Unshattered will expand their partnerships with recovery centers across the county and provide employment and job skills training to double the number of women that we serve by the end of 2020.
Walgreens
Mr. Rick Gates, Walgreens Senior Vice President for Pharmacy and Health Care
Walgreens is expanding its medication disposal program to all of its stores, and collaborating with Google to provide information about the location of disposal sites on Google’s platform.
Walmart
Mr. Paul Beahm, Senior VP of Health and Wellness Pharmacy Operations
Walmart will continue to limit initial, acute opioid prescriptions to a 7-day supply, use analytics to block illegitimate prescriptions, and require E-Prescriptions for all scheduled drugs by January 1, 2020.
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Trump signs bipartisan opioid bill aimed at curbing national crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | Fox News
By Alexandria Hein
President Trump signed a sweeping bipartisan bill into law on Wednesday aimed at making medical treatment for opioid addiction more widely available while also cracking down on illicit drugs being sent through the mail.
The bill, which was passed by Congress earlier this month, will expand access to substance abuse treatment in Medicaid. The Senate voted 98-1 on the measure following the House’s 393-8 approval.
More than 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, marking a 10 percent increase from 2016. Of those deaths, 48,000 involved opioids. While Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said on Tuesday that the numbers were leveling off, he cautioned that the nation remains “so far from the end of the epidemic, but we are perhaps, at the beginning of the end.”
Azar suggested multipronged efforts, including an increase in medication-assisted treatment and broader access to naloxone are paying off, noting that toward the end of last year and through the beginning of this year, the number of deaths “has begun to plateau.”
Before Trump signed the bill, he also addressed the several suspicious packages and devices that had been sent to several current and former high-ranking government officials earlier on Wednesday. While vowing that the safety of Americans is his "highest and absolute priority," he pledged a thorough investigation and said the administration would “spare no resources or expense in this effort.”
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What's included in the opioids bill signed by President Trump
Oct 24, 2018 | USA Today
By John Fritze and David Jackson
President Donald Trump signed a landmark bill Wednesday intended to deal with the nation's opioid epidemic, a bipartisan breakthrough for a crisis claiming tens of thousands of U.S. lives every year.
"Together we are going to end the scourge of drug addiction in American," Trump said at the White House during an East Room event to sign the legislation.
The number of people who died from an opioid overdose rose to 72,000 last year, a roughly 13 percent increase from the year before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monthly stats indicate the surge in deaths may be slowing.
Congress approved the Support for Patients and Community Act with wide bipartisan margins. Though advocacy groups have applauded the legislation, some have questioned its impact unless lawmakers approve billions more for treatment.
A look at five major provisions of the legislation Trump signed into law:Expands recovery centers
The Department of Health and Human Services will oversee a grant program to expand the use of "comprehensive recovery centers," which include job training, mental health services and housing alongside addiction treatment. The model has proven successful in some parts of the country. Funding for the centers will come later, as part of the annual congressional appropriations process.Curbs drug shipments
The law attempts to improve coordination between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Postal Service and other entities to stop shipments of fentanyl and other illicit drugs from entering the country. The law requires USPS to transmit electronic data on all incoming shipments to border agents by 2020 and creates a $1 fee on inbound Express Mail items to pay for the new requirements. Lifts treatment restrictions
Federal officials have sought for years to make it easier for doctors to prescribe drugs like Buprenorphine, which help people wean off their opioid addiction. The law allows clinical nurse specialists and others to prescribe those drugs for five years. And it codifies that physicians may prescribe those drugs for up to 275 patients, putting into law a higher cap that the Obama administration raised with a regulation.Frees new painkiller research
Frees the National Institutes of Health to more quickly pursue research projects related to non-addictive drugs for pain. Requires Medicare documentation to educate patients about categories of alternative, non-opioid pain management treatments. Changes Medicare, Medicaid
The law makes changes to several Medicare and Medicaid regulations. It would expand Medicare coverage for opioid treatment, increase screenings for opioid use disorder and expand the use of telehealth services for the treatment of substance-use disorders. The law would require a state Medicaid program to suspend, rather than terminate, a minor's medical coverage if that person is incarcerated.
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Signing Opioid Law, Trump Pledges To End 'Scourge' Of Drug Addiction
Oct 24, 2018 | NPR
By Ayesha Rascoe and Scott Horsley
With the nation reeling from an epidemic of drug overdose deaths, President Trump signed legislation Wednesday that is aimed at helping people overcome addiction and preventing addictions before they start.
"Together we are going to end the scourge of drug addiction in America," Trump said at a White House event celebrating the signing. "We are going to end it or we are going to at least make an extremely big dent in this terrible, terrible problem."
The opioid legislation was a rarity for this Congress, getting overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers.
The expansive package focuses on improving access to treatment services by lifting certain restrictions on Medicaid and Medicare coverage, as well as backing the creation of comprehensive opioid recovery centers.
It attempts to address over prescription of opioids and authorizes government research into non-addictive drugs that could be used for pain management.
There are also measures that seek to curtail foreign shipments of illegal drugs to the United States.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, spoke to NPR ahead of the bill signing. He was a leading proponent of the legislation in the Senate.
"It will help in terms of both reducing some of this poison coming into our communities, but it also helps with regard to getting people into treatment," Portman said.
Opioids kill more than 115 Americans each day, according to government statistics.
In 2017, more than 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, up from roughly 64,000 overdose deaths in 2016. Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, says the number of overdose deaths may be beginning to level off.
The widespread nature of the addiction problem may have helped the legislation get across the finish line in an otherwise deeply divided Congress, Portman said.
"Because of the severity of the crisis, and particularly in states like mine, people are willing to work together and join hands and figure out how to solve it and forget the politics," Portman said.
Drug addiction is one of the few issues where polling shows that both Democrats and Republicans agree that it is a "very big" problem.
But, some critics of the new law argue that much more money is needed to fully address the crisis. Earlier this year, Congress approved an additional $6 billion over two years to fight the epidemic.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., backed the bill, but told NPR that the legislation was just an initial step.
"Experts in the field tell us that is not nearly enough," Hassan said. "We have to treat this as a starting point. We have a lot more work to do."
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Trump signs sweeping bill aimed at tackling opioid crisis
Oct 24, 2018 | The Hill
By Jessie Hellman
President Trump on Wednesday signed sweeping legislation meant to curb the nation's opioid epidemic.
The bipartisan bill, which passed Congress earlier this month, includes dozens of treatment, prevention and enforcement provisions authored by hundreds of lawmakers representing states ravaged by the epidemic.
"Together we are going to end the scourge of drug addiction in America," Trump said during a ceremony at the White House.
"We are either going to end it or we are going to make an extremely big dent in this terrible, terrible problem."
More than 49,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2017, according to provisional numbers from the CDC.
The bill reauthorizes funding for the 21st Century Cures Act, which was passed in 2016 and puts $500 million a year toward the opioid crisis. It also lifts some restrictions on using Medicaid funding for opioid treatment and creates new grant programs for local and state governments and organizations fighting the epidemic.
A hallmark provision of the bill aims to stop the flow of deadly synthetic opioids into the U.S. from other countries by requiring the Postal Service to obtain electronic data on international mail shipments that can be used to target suspicious packages for inspection.
Shipments through private carriers are already required to submit this data, but lawmakers say the protections must be extended to the U.S. Postal Service to close a loophole that is allowing synthetic opioids like fentanyl to enter the country.
While the bill was bipartisan, Democrats wished it had dedicated more funding to the epidemic.
A separate bill authored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) would provide $100 billion in funding over 10 years to address the crisis.
The bill Trump signed Thursday cost around $8.5 billion, but that money was already authorized by Congress earlier this year.
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Oct 24, 2018 | National Programming
By MSNBC
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Rough Transcript: now, here's the thing, the president -- the white house came up fairly quickly with a statement condemning what they called terrorizing acts earlier this morning when all of this started to unfold. the president came out and addressed what happened immediately as he walked out into the east room for those remarks, a previously scheduled speech that was a bill signing for opioids legislation. here was the question, stephanie, as you know the president has been holding an the creasing number of rallies in the gear up to the mid-terms these last couple of weeks. it's at those rallies we've seen him go after in some cases by name the people on the screen right now. the question is how and when and whether he will reflect the sentiment delivered in the
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Oct 24, 2018 | National Programming
By Bloomberg Markets
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Rough Transcript: we are gathered together today to address america's drug and opioid crisis, and a crisis it is. it now claims 70,000 lives a year. one year ago i addressed the nation in this very room and declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. that is a legal statement, a legal term. today we are here to update the american people on the historic action we have taken, and to sign landmark legislation to defeat the opioid epidemic. i want to thank the cabinet members in attendance today, attorney general jeff sessions, thank you. and secretaries ryan.
Reporter: And President Trump speaking at the White House, on the Opioid epidemic, but he began his remarks commenting on the bomb scares.
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Oct 24, 2018 | National Programming
By CNBC
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Rough Transcript: we're gathered together today to address america's drug and opioid crisis. and a crisis it is which now claims 70,000 lives a year. >> wehave been listening to President Trump making some comments regarding suspicious packages.
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