The Trump administration is fighting the opioid epidemic, President Trump said Tuesday in his first State of the Union address — but the Trump administration hasn’t actually done much to fight the epidemic beyond declaring a state of emergency, which is merely a bureaucratic formality.
“In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses: 174 deaths per day. Seven per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge,” Trump said in the address. “My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need. The struggle will be long and difficult — but, as Americans always do, we will prevail.”
Trump also told the story of a man he invited to the speech, a police officer who, according to Trump, stopped a woman from injecting heroin while on duty in Albuquerque, New Mexico last year. In the story Trump tells, the officer tells a woman she can overcome her addition simply by deciding to overcome it.
“In that moment, Ryan said he felt God speak to him: ‘You will do it — because you can,'” Trump said, asking the officer and his wife to stand.
But the opioid epidemic killed 33,000 people in 2015 alone, and it takes a lot more than willpower for people to overcome the the disease. And despite Trump’s claims Tuesday night, the Trump administration’s fight against the crisis has essentially been confined declaring a state of emergency. They have not declared additional funding to fight the opioid crisis, nor have they heeded the advice of their own Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.
The commission, chaired by former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, said in July that the best way to fight the opioid crisis would be to increase Medicaid funding. The Trump administration has actively done the opposite, making slashing Medicaid a central goal as part of repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Trump — who often touts his dealmaking abilities — has also refused to negotiate reduced pricing for governmental units of naloxone, a lifesaving overdose drug, nor has he worked to negotiate reduced pricing for effective medication-assisted treatments.
The Trump administration has also refused to make it easier for doctors to prescribe buprenorphine, an addiction treatment drug, or even reimburse doctors for taking the course needed to get certified in buprenorphine treatment.