Commission asks president to declare opioid crisis a national emergency

Staff report

WASHINGTON — The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released a draft of its interim report asking President Donald Trump to declare the opioid overdose crisis a national emergency.

“With approximately 142 Americans dying every day, America is enduring a death toll equal to Sept. 11 every three weeks,” the report reads.

The report urges the President to use executive power to increase access to treatment; create an incentive to offer medication-assisted treatment using methadone, suboxone or buprenorphine; and to mandate every law enforcement officer in the U.S. to carry naloxone, also known as Narcan.

The report also recommends requiring better training for prescribers and finding new ways to detect fentanyl delivered through the mail.

The President established the commission with a March 29 executive order. Its members include the governors of New Jersey, North Carolina and Massachusetts.

The commission plans to release a full report this fall.