After weeks of specualtion Donald Trump stated the obvious and declared the nations opiod crisis a national emergency. “The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I’m saying officially right now it is an emergency,” he told reporters at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. “It’s a national emergency. We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money on the opioid crisis.”
This followed Governor Rick Scotts emergency declaration several weeks before the president announced a national emergency. Scott’s emergency declaration gives him the power to spend immediately without the Legislature’s approval and allows the state to accept a federal grant awarded two weeks ago for prevention, treatment and recovery services that will total more than $54 million over the next two years.
The toll of the overall epidemic has been staggering. Between 1999 and 2015, the number of deaths from opioid overdose quadrupled in the United States—meaning that about 91 people die from opioid abuse every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).