The Senate on Monday approved a package of sweeping bipartisan legislation to combat the nation’s ongoing opioid and illicit drug epidemic by a 99-1 vote, just one month after President Trump called foreign shipments of the illegal drugs from China and Mexico “almost a form of warfare” and demanded legal action against opioid manufacturers.
The news represented a rare moment of unity in the Senate amid a fiercely partisan midterm season, as both parties moved to address a national crisis that federal officials said has killed more than 100 people in the U.S. each day. California, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania each had more than 4,000 people die from drug overdoses in 2016, while seven other states each lost more than 2,000 people to drugs, according to the most recent figures available.
“This legislation will help cut off the opioid crisis at its roots,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. “It will stop more drugs at the border, improve interstate monitoring, and encourage reform of prescription dosing.”
The legislation now heads back to the House of Representatives to bring it in line with the Senate’s language. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was the lone dissenter. He slammed the legislation in a speech for creating a slew of “unaccountable federal grant programs [that] aren’t going to help much” and suggested that Congress was simply “throwing money” at what he called a very real problem.
At a cost of more than $8 billion, the package of bills includes a variety of new guidelines and mandates for federal agencies, as well as additional restrictions to prevent the synthetic opioid fentanyl and other drugs from being shipped into the country — a particular point of emphasis for the Trump administration. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Calling opioids coming into the U.S. from China and Mexico “almost a form of warfare,” President Trump on Thursday urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate foreign sources of fentanyl that he said are “killing our people.”
Speaking during a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Trump also took the unusual step of urging Sessions to file a “major” new lawsuit against opioid suppliers and manufacturers, rather than join existing lawsuits filed by states affected by the spread of the highly addictive, deadly drugs.
“It’s almost a form of warfare,” Trump said, referring to the drugs he called “garbage” that are flowing into the country. “I’d be very firm on that. It’s a disgrace and we can stop it.”
Trump added: “I’d also like to ask you to bring a major lawsuit against the drug companies on opioids. Some states have done it, but I’d like a lawsuit to be brought against these companies that are really sending opioids at a level that — it really shouldn’t be happening. … People go into a hospital with a broken arm, they come out, they’re a drug addict.” – READ MORE
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