Politico says that the drug overdose crisis has gotten worse because politicians in Washington, DC, aren’t doing anything to fix the problem that’s killing so many Americans.
The news source said this week that back in 2018, leaders from both parties, including President Trump at the time, agreed that there was a problem and worked together to advocate for legislation that would use billions of dollars to support efforts to fix it.
But the SUPPORT Act expired not long ago. According to Politico, the story said:
“Despite the fact that 105,000 Americans died this past year, Congress doesn’t seem very interested in renewing the law since it ran out on September 30. That isn’t because of partisanship; it’s because people know that a new law won’t solve the problem quickly.”
“Congress doesn’t have to pass an updated version of the SUPPORT Act to keep funding attempts to fight opioids. But failure to pass another law means missing out on the chance to try something new. Advocates are disheartened by that.”
A bill pertaining to the issue was proposed by Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who is the ranking Republican member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Retirement plans Committee, and was accepted by the House Committee on Energies and Commerce with a unanimous vote over the summer. However, the outlet noted that “that measure’s inadequate ambition suggests an explanation for the absence of urgency in passing it.”
Politico said that no Democrat has ever done the same thing.
The story also said that most of the drug deaths in the country are caused by fentanyl.
As reported by Breitbart News, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the commissioner of health services for New York City, recently stated to ABC News that in order to block the flow of fentanyl, law enforcement as well as public safety agencies must collaborate with national security officials.
“The truth is that things continue to get worse,” he said. “We need to fight this problem with everyone working together, both here in New York City and across the country.”
The Axios-Ipsos Health Index poll from February found that Americans saw opioids and fentanyl as the biggest health threat in the country.
The news source said in 2019 that “former Vice President Joe Biden ‘supercharged’ America’s catastrophic opioid epidemic through policies he supported as a United States Senator, cracking down on overdosing prevention locations as well as making it more risky to call 911 when a person overdosed,” referencing a Politico article by Zachary Siegel.
