(The Slice) - Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday at the White House Pres. Trump gave an Oval Office briefing on the Opioid Crisis, announcing $1.8 billion in grants for state and local governments.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is getting an additional $900 million (0ver 3 years) to help states track overdose data, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was awarded $932 million in grants to provide treatment, recovery and prevention.
Some of the money will help homeless drug addicts get off the streets and go toward mental health services.
Trump said the grants will be "used to increase access to medication and medication-assisted treatment and mental health resources, which are critical for ending homelessness and getting people the help they deserve. So many problems are caused by this problem."
Alex Azar, Sec. of Health and Human Services said the funding was secured from Congress in 2018.
A highlight of the Trump Administration's work on this effort is the attention that has been given to drug addicted mothers and infants through the passage of the CRIB ACT (Caring Recovery for Infants and Babies Act). The bill encourages hospital to be proactive in treating newborns with an opiate dependency.This initiative also encompasses on-going ad campaigns aimed a youth designed to raise awareness about addiction.
Additionally, Pres. Trump said his administration is working to find a non-addictive pain killer. He also mentioned the work his administration is doing related to kidney health and HIV/AIDS, but said ending the opioid epidemic is the administration's top health priority.
The president thanked the government of Mexico and their troops for their assistance at the border in seizing fentynal (a source of drug over doses) coming in from China, noting this was the first time such and interception happened and it was beneficial to both the U.S. and Mexico.
An excerpt from the briefing follows. . .
"So my administration is focused on confronting the healthcare, and healthcare challenges, and American suffering that other administrations, frankly, have forgotten. We're doing things that other administrations did not focus on at all. In this effort, nothing is more important than defeating the opioid and addiction crisis.
The $1.8 billion in funds we're awarding today will be distributed to all 50 states through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's very exciting. They'll be used to increase access to medication and medication-assisted treatment and mental health resources, which are critical for ending homelessness and getting people the help they deserve. So many problems are caused by this problem.
These grants will also support state and local governments in obtaining high-quality, comprehensive data so that we can help the most people and save the most lives, which is what we're doing."
A note of historic relevance on this matter is that the well documented crack epidemic that consumed African Americans communities in the 1980s did not receive apt support form the government under the leadership of Pres. Ronald Reagan, also a Republican. Instead of putting energy and funds into saving inner cities that were the most affected, mandatory minimums for drug offenses were instituted, establishing a pipeline to prison that ruined Black families and still has social and legal ramifications today.
In the article below, a writer links the crack epidemic that affected the Black community to the opioid crisis that largely affects whites, marking a hard to ignore disparity in the politics of race in America.