CONGRESS/DEMS/DRUGS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Medical treatment would be more widely available to opioid abusers, while mailing illicit drugs would become more difficult under a rare bipartisan measure aimed at tackling the nation’s addiction crisis expected to be signed into law on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a year more typically marked by partisan gridlock, Trump was expected to sign the sweeping opioids package passed by Congress earlier this month to tackle a problem that led to a record 72,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017. The legislation expands access to substance abuse treatment in Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled; cracks down on mailed shipments of illicit drugs such as fentanyl, a synthetic opioid far more powerful than heroin; and provides a host of new federal grants to address the crisis.”
–Yasmeen Abutaleb, “Trump to sign anti-opioid abuse package in rare bipartisan step,” Reuters, October 24, 2018 3:01 am