In one year, Trump pivots fentanyl response from public health to drug war
In his first year back in office, President Trump reshaped U.S. drug policy and the response to fentanyl deaths in sweeping, often chaotic fashion, rapidly dismantling efforts launched by the Biden administration aimed at expanding drug treatment.
Many experts credit Biden-era public health policies with saving tens of thousands of lives. But with new laws, executive orders, budget cuts, and military redeployments, Trump pivoted the nation from those strategies to a militarized drug war.
"From day one of the Trump administration we declared an all-out war on the dealers, smugglers, traffickers and cartels," Trump said in July, during a signing ceremony for the Halt Fentanyl Act.
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Meanwhile, his administration threw into question support for even basic federally funded addiction treatment programs, at one point temporarily freezing $140 million in federal grants as front-line care providers scrambled to maintain services.
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5653370/trump-fentanyl-drug-policy-pivot
The bold is mine and why I posted. The article further down also mentions that fatal overdoses dropped sharply during the last 2 years of Biden and how his approach worked even though Trump falsely claimed that it was a failure. The article also mentions how medicaid expansion helped.
I also feel it is important to treat issues like addiction as a public health issue which is more effective than whatever it is that Trump is doing.
= new reply since forum marked as read
