The United States plans to allocate more than $450 million in new funding to fight drug overdoses, the White House said Thursday, touting a leveling off in such deaths even as the country’s addiction crisis rages.
There was a record of around 110,000 drug overdose deaths between March 2022 and March 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with more than one million people having died in overdoses since 1999.
Still, “overdoses have flattened in 2022 after sharp increases from 2019 to 2021, and this shows that our efforts are working,” White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Rahul Gupta told reporters Thursday.
But he acknowledged that this slowdown in increasing deaths did not reflect deaths related to fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that has flooded the US drug market and is responsible for most overdoses in the country.
“Fentanyl overdose deaths are increasing because of supplies more lethal, but overdose deaths related to other substances are down or flattening,” he added.
The new funds will go toward state and local treatment centers, more accurate data gathering, public service announcements and anti-drug dealing measures.
“The Biden-Harris administration is announcing more than $450 million to strengthen prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services and crack down on illicit drug trafficking,” the White House said in a statement.
Some $80 million will go toward fighting opioid addiction in rural areas, which are among the hardest hit, including by expanding access to naloxone, a drug which can reverse opioid overdoses.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the sale of Narcan-brand naloxone nasal spray without a prescription for the first time earlier this year, with a generic becoming available in July.
Narcan maker Emergent BioSolutions announced this week that its first prescription-free boxes — containing two doses — would be soon available for purchase in pharmacies, supermarkets and online.
Families of victims who died from drug overdoses were invited to the White House Thursday, which is International Overdose Awareness Day, to meet with Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Today, on Overdose Awareness Day, I grieve with every person that has lost a child, sibling, parent, or friend to an overdose,” President Joe Biden posted on social media.
“Let’s find hope in the 20 million brave Americans recovering from substance use disorder who show us what’s possible when people receive the care and support they need.”
Good article about the parliament affair with the error by Speaker of Parliament Rota.