As reported in this piece from The Hill, "President Trump on Thursday will instruct the acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, White House officials said." Here is more about this notable news:
It's a move that won't free up additional federal funding and is a more narrow option recommended by the president's opioid commission. The announcement has been months in the making and avoids declaring a more sweeping national emergency under the Stafford Act, which was one option the administration's opioid commission had previously recommended. The commission recommended either a public health emergency or a Stafford Act emergency.
The Stafford Act “doesn't offer authority that is helpful here," a senior administration official said. "There has been some false reporting about this." A Stafford Act emergency is typically reserved for a terror attack or natural disaster in a more localized area.
Trump will formally make the announcement during a White House event Thursday.... On Aug. 10, Trump said his administration was drafting paperwork to officially declare the epidemic a national emergency, which was the “first and most urgent” recommendation in an interim report from his commission to combat the crisis. Two months later, some advocates and lawmakers were frustrated that the declaration still hadn’t come. At a press conference last week, Trump said he’d make the announcement this week, calling a declaration “a very important step” and saying “to get to that step, a lot of work has to be done and it’s time-consuming work.”
Administration officials said they felt that a public health emergency was a better use of resources. It will allow acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan to loosen certain regulations and issue grants and spend money that he otherwise would not be able to. A public health emergency needs to be renewed every 90 days until the declaration is no longer needed.
Three agencies that play a role in the federal response to the opioid epidemic have acting directors instead of Senate-confirmed leaders: the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) — an early backer of Trump — withdrew as the ONDCP nominee last week following a Washington Post-"60 Minutes” joint investigative report on a bill he sponsored that weakened the DEA's ability to enforce the nation’s drug laws. Marino has vigorously defended himself. White House officials said Trump will be submitting names to lead HHS and ONDCP soon but pointed to “obstructionists” in the Senate for slowing down confirmation of lower level agency appointees who could help implement the action.
The declaration could spark a funding feud in Washington, as some say more cash is needed to make a declaration effective. The amount of money left in the public health emergency fund is paltry — just $57,000. Administration officials said there have been ongoing discussions with Congress about securing more money for the fund as part of the year-end spending bill, but would not discuss specific dollar amounts.
Though I am sure there will criticism and debate as to whether the Trump Administration is doing enough with this latest move and other actions, I cannot help but note and praise the labeling and symbolism here. Today's announcement involves a declaration of a "public health" emergency rather than a declaration of a "war on opioids" or advocacy for increased punishments for opioid activity. (Although until we hear what Prez Trump actually says this afternoon, it may be premature to praise what it would seem he plans to say and I recall that last month AG Sessions talked about winning the war against opioids.)
In prior generations, such as when crack was the drug of great concern in the 1980s, the response at the federal level was to increase and emphasize the criminal justice fight in various ways. A "public health" focus for drug problems is one that has been long urged by researchers and advocates; today's announcement suggests some rhetoric of late is shifting to embracing a "public health" model — although on-the-ground realities demonstrate that the criminal justice system is still playing a huge part of the public response to opioid and other drug issues.
A few of many recent related posts:
- Discussing opioid epidemic, AG Sessions says he is "convinced this is a winnable war"
- Distinct approaches to the opioid epidemic
- A deep look at "tough on crime" responses to the opioid epidemic
- Mississippi opioid task force apparently calling for extreme sentences for heroin dealers
- "Support Grows for Civil Commitment of Opioid Users"
Comments
Post a Comment