Trump is planning to slash the budget of the Office of National Drug Control Policy 95% cut
I thought his admin tackling the opioid crisis was supposed to be a priority?
Trump is planning to slash the budget of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in what marks his administration’s second attempt to gut the top office responsible for coordinating the federal response to the opioid crisis.The plan would shift the office’s two main grant programs, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas grant and the Drug Free Communities Act, to the Justice and Health and Human Services departments, respectively, multiple sources in the administration and others working with the government on the opioid crisis told POLITICO.
The move would result in a reduction of about $340 million, or 95 percent of the ONDCP’s budget. Trump administration officials say the office would still serve as the White House’s drug policy shop, while the grants would be administered by larger agencies.The proposal is the latest in a series of actions that health policy experts contend show the Trump administration isn’t serious about addressing the opioid epidemic, despite the president's designating the substance abuse disorder a national emergency.
Trump hasn’t appointed a permanent director or “drug czar,” to lead ONDCP or asked Congress for additional funding states say is needed to tackle the crisis. The administration has also emphasized a law-and-order approach that experts say only constitutes a narrow part of the solution — one that if overemphasized could harm more struggling patients than it helps.The White House Office of Management and Budget floated cutting the grant programs completely last year, but the plan was scrapped in the face of fierce resistance from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. This year, officials as part of the administration's fiscal 2019 budget would shift those programs to other agencies, which critics say leaves the policy office with little power or purpose.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/18/trump-targets-drug-policy-office-297422
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