Biden’s speech comes with opioid epidemic having grow to be a lethal public well being disaster : NPR

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One among President Biden’s friends at tonight’s State of the Union handle can be a father from New Hampshire who misplaced his daughter to a fentanyl overdose. Biden addresses the nation because the opioid epidemic has advanced into a much more lethal public well being disaster. NPR habit correspondent Brian Mann seems to be at how we obtained right here and what may come subsequent.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: One factor everybody agrees on – the hovering loss of life toll from the opioid fentanyl disaster is shattering households, scarring complete communities. Brandon Dunn from Texas misplaced his 15-year-old son, Noah, to a fentanyl overdose final summer season.

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BRANDON DUNN: He was murdered by a drug supplier promoting counterfeit Percocet drugs. Noah was the third sufferer in lower than two months in Hays County from illicit fentanyl.

MANN: Dunn testified earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee final week. The U.S. has actually been navigating two public well being crises on the similar time – the COVID pandemic and an explosion of drug deaths linked to fentanyl. Dr. Rahul Gupta heads the White Home Workplace of Nationwide Drug Management Coverage.

RAHUL GUPTA: Our nation is going through 108,000 overdose deaths in simply 12 months. That is one life misplaced each 5 minutes across the clock. We’re dwelling in historic instances. Our North Star is to save lots of lives.

MANN: The Biden administration has targeted its response on well being care, attempting to get extra habit therapy to extra folks, whereas additionally scrambling to make a drugs that reverses opioid overdoses, known as Naloxone or Narcan, extra extensively accessible. Gupta says these methods are serving to.

GUPTA: After greater than 35% improve in overdose deaths in the course of the first 18 months of the pandemic, the newer complete overdose loss of life counts have remained largely unchanged.

MANN: So the overdose epidemic could also be slowing only a bit, however researchers nonetheless say the U.S. is on monitor to lose one other 1.2 million lives to opioid overdoses by the tip of this decade. The fentanyl that is killing so many individuals is flowing into the U.S. from Mexico. The Drug Enforcement Administration says the leaders of drug cartels have determined fentanyl is a moneymaker – low-cost to make, simple to smuggle by way of official ports of entry. And the cartels merely do not care if it kills quite a lot of People.

DAVID TRONE: We’re not profitable. We’re dropping the battle.

MANN: Congressman David Trone, a Democrat from Maryland, says fentanyl smuggling cannot be significantly curtailed with something brief of a giant U.S. army presence inside Mexico, which he says is unrealistic.

TRONE: My perception is there’s completely no technique to cease it. If we may, you recognize, do main raids in Mexico with our army, it isn’t our nation. It is their nation. They’ve chosen to not go after the drug traffickers.

MANN: For this reason the Biden administration is focusing totally on well being care. There is a rising conviction amongst Democrats and plenty of drug coverage specialists that illicit fentanyl is now a everlasting fixture on American streets. However many Republicans are pushing again, arguing extra could be achieved to safe the border and infrequently falsely linking fentanyl with undocumented migrants. Congressman Chip Roy from Texas spoke ultimately week’s judiciary listening to.

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CHIP ROY: The overwhelming flood at our borders distracting Border Patrol from having the ability to perform their obligation to cease the circulation between the ports of entry or do inspections on the ports of entry is leading to extra fentanyl pouring into our communities.

MANN: However Republicans have not prompt particular coverage concepts or methods which may significantly gradual fentanyl trafficking. In order President Biden speaks tonight, fentanyl has joined the COVID pandemic as a public well being disaster that is additionally a fault line in America’s political divide. Brian Mann, NPR Information.

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