President Trump’s remarks Thursday that he was directing his administration to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency mostly focused on the extent of the problem and highlighted in broad strokes that the country would find ways to combat the crisis.
But Trump also laid out ways in which his administration would be attempting to combat the opioid epidemic.
Here are a few of the steps Trump mentioned.
About the Author Reprints
It is clear that however well intentioned President Trump’s statement is-“just don’t start drugs” he is forgetting the unfortunate segment of our population that does not have that choice at this time. Until research finds a better solution, many are tied to an opioid in order to have some quality of life. These are the people many doctors were trying to help when they were snared by the DOJ and are now being treated as common criminals.
This is not a drug problem, it’s an OD problem. There will be more dead people. Drs need to be Drs treating patients. Start with illicit drugs first, you know where to find them.
Voting Democrat isn’t going to stop them from wanting to control everything our doctor/patient relationship entails. Libertarians want to legalize drugs, but they are a third party. Who do we vote for to get this vicious attack to end?
Im so damn tired of trump.This punk has caused my bf unnecessary stress in order to get his pain meds.Now bc of Trumps new fucking policy its a pain in the ass for him to get his pain meds covered bye his insurance.He lost 1 leg and has metal in his bone to heal a fracture and keep his charcot foot syndrome from getting worst and now has to worry about getting his pain meds this is evil bs and unfair.My bf isn’t the epidemic go after the right peopls leave patients in agonizing pain alone you jerk what if it was his loved one orhim in paini bet then this policy wont matter hes hurting the innocent truly hurting people.He isnt helping at all .
I’m 54 and I am tired of Doctors refusing to give me just 10 a month for when I am in pain , The idiots who are addicted will just buy them off the streets and tax payers will pay $8000 a month to keep drug dealers and addicts in jail , I know a few who can’t get them and work jobs that no one esle would work and these jobs leave you in pain , America is a free Country leave the one thing that helps people get through the day and do this hard labor
Exactly pain meds is a lifesaver for my bf otherwise he would always be in excruciating pain.This new policy is insane.Im so sorry your suffering due to trump he’s the biggest mistake
From all that I’ve read, the Trump declaration of an emergency is basically as bogus as the prevailing war against pain patients. The President’s Commission on Combating Addiction and the Opioid Crisis was stacked with politicians who couldn’t find their collective tail ends using both hands on a sunny day — at least with regard to the causes and remedies for addiction.
Dr Carl Hart – Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University – offers us a much needed public counterpoint to the nonsense being preached by our politicians, in the November issue of Scientific American. The title is “People Are Dying Because of Ignorance – Not Because of Opioids”. A key statement is as follows:
“The vast majority of opioid users do not become addicts. Users’ chances of becoming addicted increase if they are white, male, young and unemployed and if they have co-occurring psychiatric disorders. That is why it is critical to conduct a thorough assessment of patients entering treatment, paying particular attention to these factors rather than simply focusing on the unrealistic goal of eliminating opioids.”
We already know what works and what doesn’t. The Christie Commission should have paid attention and clearly didn’t.
28-Day Detox or Rehab clinics don’t work alone. Neither do abstinence-based programs like Narcotics Anonymous. Relapse rates in both programs approach 90% in the first year, when addicts are discharged into communities without support for re-integration.
The most effective means we have for managing addiction at present are medication-assisted therapies (Methadone, possibly Naloxone if prices can be greatly reduced) accompanied by ongoing counseling, safe housing initiatives, and job training. We also need aggressive and sustained counter-drug education starting in Middle Schools and including addicts as teachers. The costs of this combination of programs will likely be in the tens of Billions of dollars per year for the foreseeable future. Any proposal that lacks funding at this level will be a mere smoke screen without useful outcomes. That’s essentially what President Trump has proposed thus far.
There is no such thing as a “former” addict or a “former” alcoholic. There are only addicts in recovery, many of whom will relapse because of being returned to the very same social and home life conditions which created their mental health issues in the first place.
According to the daily show all he has done is to free 57k$, declaring a public health emergency, to fight the opioid crisis. Instead of the much hoped and promised national emergency (with 23B$ funds) to fight it.
So, it seems it was another Trump’s bluff!
On the other hand, the daily show is FAKE NEWS!
I’m certainly glad to see the president is aware of the importance in access to opioids in treating chronic intractable pain patients like me, I want him to implement protection for us and our healthcare providers
These Government agencies are fighting chronic pain disease patients. We use legitimate prescription medications for diseases that cause us debilitating excruciating pain. The crisis is that they are targeting CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS and the physicians that have enough compassion and empathy too treat us. Chronic pain is now the epidemic. We are being caterogized and descriminated against for a medication we require to reduce our pain. No other chronic disease patient is targeted for their use of prescription medication.
What about the good of opioid medications. They are lifesaving medications for millions of Americans who live in constant, debilitating, chronic pain.
Though the number of prescribed opioids are down, the overdose deaths are “reportedly, at an all time high”. So this system is not working.
When a death does occur, there is no specific testing as to what opioid drugs attibuted to the death. Whether there were other drugs or alcohol in the system or whether the specific “medication” was for that individual. Was it illegally manufactured and distributed heroin, fentynal or carfentynal.
The misuse of medication by legitimate chronic pain disease patients is .02-.6 %. It is use of illegal opioids and misuse of legal opioid medications that lead to addiction and/or death.
The FDA, DEA, CDC and all other Government agencies need to go after the illegal fentynal and heroin producers and manufacturers, also, methamphetamine, cocaine and all other illegal drugs.
Why is it that our physicians are no longer able to Doctor and treat us? Why is it that these agencies can now Doctor us and practice medicine without a medical license? What has happened to Doctor/patient confidentiality. It no longer excists. Pharmacists, insurance companies and these Government agencies are now able to decide what us patients actually need when it comes to our medications. They are policing our physicians. It is up to our physicians to treat us adequately and humanely with medication so many of us desperately need for our disease.
This targeting is wrong! It is discrimination against legitimate chronic pain disease patients who use our MEDICATION responsibly.
We pain disease patients are not addicts, we are PATIENTS, with incurable diseases. Medications are readily available to us for our conditions that happen to fall into the same category as the illegal drugs. Not treating us chronic pain disease patients is inhumane and discriminatory.
The words used in news papers or on the news stations is “opioids”, why not specify? What should be used is heroin or illegal fentynal. These illegal drugs are being smuggled into this country by the boatload. It’s too difficult for the DEA to actually catch and prosecute these individuals. Us patients and our physicians are easy targets for prosecution. This is a war on us in need. We patients who are in pain. We deserve relief. Our physicians deserve to treat us as they see fit without threat of prosecution for doing their jobs and treating us with care, empathy, respect and caring.
This is exactly what I was worried about when I posted by warning comment (below).
In response to Candi pointing out that people are dying from illegal opioids yet legal opioids, prescribers and patients are being targeted. My doctor told me to “put my money glasses on” or in other words follow the money and that alot of the hysteria is being fed by insurance companies and the like who are trying to cut costs.
“Because of new prescribing limits and the fear of feeding addiction, they are not able to get access to [opioid pain medication].”
That’s my fear. I suffer from chronic pain. When govenments get involved in things like this, they often go way overboard. In which case I couildn’t het the meds I need and would be in constant, serious pain plus I would be going through opioid withdrawal, with all those nasty problems: headaches, muscle aches, vomiting, disrupted sleep etc.
I welcome suggestions for other ways of treating my pain. But I already suffer liver problems, and some meds can really harm my liver.