WASHINGTON — The Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis is urging President Donald Trump to “declare a national emergency” regarding overdoses from drug addiction.
The commission, which New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie serves as chair, issued its draft interim report Monday covering its findings since its creation through executive action on March 29.
In this report, the commission said it has talked to governors, congressional members and members of the Trump administration about drug addiction, while also mentioning the rise of overdoses and increased use of opioids.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from prescription opioids, such as oxycodone, more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2015.
“In that same period, the amount of prescription opioids in America have quadrupled as well,” the commission said. “This massive increase in prescribing has occurred despite the fact that there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain Americans have reported in that time period.”
Yet the commission also noted while access to prescription drugs decreased, people have begun turning to illegal drugs such as heroin and fentanyl.
The commission proposed multiple recommendations to address the overarching issue:
— Grant waiver approval to increase treatment capacity;
— Mandate prescriber education training;
— Create and fund an initiative to improve treatment program access;
— Provide states with model legislation to allow dispensing naloxone, such as Narcan;
— Permit the development of fentanyl detection sensors to provide to federal, state, local and tribal agencies;
— Support state efforts in prescription drug monitoring programs;
— Reconsider patient privacy laws that limit information accessible to medical providers; and
— Ensure those with mental health and addiction diagnoses are provided equal benefits to those with physical diagnoses.
“With approximately 142 Americans dying every day, America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks,” the commission said. “After September 11th, our President and our nation banded together to use every tool at our disposal to prevent any further American deaths. Your declaration would empower your cabinet to take bold steps and would force Congress to focus on funding and empowering the Executive Branch even further to deal with this loss of life.”
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., released a statement following the draft report’s release, saying if Trump declared a national emergency, his cabinet, as well as Congress, can better act to address drug addiction.
“When I’m on the ground in my home state of West Virginia and when I hear the stories of those struggling with opioid addiction it’s obvious our country is in crisis,” Manchin said in a press release. “This report outlines key provisions that I have been fighting to institute for years.”
The other commission members besides Christie are Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and Harvard Professor Bertha Madras.
Madras was the deputy director for Demand Reduction in the White House Office of National Control Policy under former President George. W. Bush.
The commission’s final report is expected to be released this fall.