Trump declares the opioid epidemic a public health emergency

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump delivers remarks on combatting drug demand and the opioid crisis on October 26, 2017 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump on Thursday declared the nation’s opioid epidemic a public health emergency, the first time since 2010 that the federal government has declared a nationwide public health emergency. But the president stopped short of officially labeling the crisis — which claimed the lives of 64,000 Americans in 2016 — a state of national emergency.

“I’m officially declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law,” Trump said at a White House event. Ending the epidemic “will require the resolve of our entire country,” Trump said.

The designation of a public health emergency would expand the ways that individuals can get treatment for opioid addiction, which could particularly benefit people in rural areas.

The emergency declaration would also free up Public Health Emergency funds at the Department of Health and Human Services, and grant individual states more flexibility in how they use federal dollars, and allow them to direct more funds towards addiction treatment and prevention.

Labor Department grants known as Dislocated Worker Grants would also be available to workers who cite opiate addiction as the reason they’re applying for the grants. Dislocated Worker Grants are typically only available to victims of natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.