Commission Urges President Trump to Declare Emergency over Opioid Crisis

A White House commission called for a national emergency over the opioid epidemic in a report released Monday.

By declaring a national emergency, President Trump's cabinet would be able to take action and would force Congress to find funding for solutions, according to the interim report from the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

"It would also awaken every American to this simple fact: If this scourge has not found you or your family yet, without bold action by everyone, it soon will," the report reads. "You, Mr. president, are the only person who can bring this type of intensity to the emergency and we believe you have the will to do so and to do so immediately."

The report called the crisis "unparalleled."

"Our citizens are dying," the report reads. "We must act boldly to stop it."

It included the following recommendations:

• Grant waiver approvals in all 50 states to get rid of treatment barriers

• Mandate education initiatives with the help of medical and dental schools

• Establish and fund an initiative that would better access to medication-assisted treatment

• Provide legislative language states can use for naloxone dispensing

• Prioritize funding to Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency to develop detection sensors that can be then sent to federal, state and local government agencies

http://www.wbir.com/news/commission-urges-president-trump-to-declare-emergency-over-opioid-crisis/460899246