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President Donald Trump promised to win the fight against a U.S. epidemic of opioid drug use, but offered no new steps to do so and did not act on a recommendation made by a presidential commission that he declare a national emergency. Trump spoke at an event he had billed as a "major briefing" on the opioid crisis during a two-week "working vacation" at his private golf club in New Jersey. He also used the appearance to unexpectedly issue a stern warning to North Korea over its threats to the United States. (Chiacu and Oliphant, 8/8)

President Trump on Tuesday stressed the importance of prevention and law enforcement in a briefing on the opioid crisis at his New Jersey golf course, but stopped short of declaring the state of national emergency that his own opioid commission has recommended. Health Secretary Tom Price told said the administration has the resources it needs to combat the epidemic without invoking the emergency powers. (Korte, 8/8)

[Price] added that the option, like the rest of the policies suggested in the commission’s report, was still “on the table.” (Mershon and Joseph, 8/8)

Meeting with top advisers during his working vacation in New Jersey, Mr. Trump cited statistics saying that deaths stemming from opioid overdoses had skyrocketed in recent years and had become the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. He spoke generally about better health care and law enforcement action as well as guarding the southern border. “It’s a tremendous problem in our country, and I hope we get it taken care of as well as it can be taken care of — hopefully better than any other country that also has these same problems,” he told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. “Nobody is safe from this epidemic that threatens all — young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural communities. Everybody is threatened.” (Baker and Shear, 8/8)

[Trump] said the “best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place.” “If they don’t start, they won’t have a problem. If they do start, it’s awfully tough to get off,” Trump told reporters at the clubhouse at his private golf club. “So if we can keep them from going on — and maybe by talking to youth and telling them: ‘No good, really bad for you in every way.’ But if they don’t start, it will never be a problem.” (Johnson and Wagner, 8/8)

Mr. Trump cited a dramatic rise in opioid overdose deaths in the past two decades and a decline in federal drug prosecutions and drug offender prison sentences in recent years. “They looked at this scourge and they let it go by,” the president said, referring to the Obama administration. “We’re not letting it go by.” (Radnofsky and Campo-Flores, 8/8)

"Strong law enforcement is absolutely vital to having a drug-free society," Trump said. "I'm confident that by working with our health care and law enforcement experts we will fight this deadly epidemic and the United States will win." The remarks echoed similar comments made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this summer. (Ehley, 8/8)

[Trump] also called for more aggressively policing U.S. borders to stop the import of heroin and synthetic opioids from abroad. “We’re also very, very tough on the southern border where much of this comes in, and we’re talking to China, where certain forms of man-made drug comes in and it is bad,” Trump said. “We have to win for a lot of other people, not necessarily young, that are totally addicted and have serious, serious problems.” (Sink and Edney, 8/8)

The commission Trump appointed to study the epidemic, headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, recommended last week that Trump declare a national emergency, but its report emphasized medical solutions, not law enforcement. “We must act boldly to stop it,” the commission wrote. “The opioid epidemic we are facing is unparalleled.” The interim report, which the authors said would be updated in the fall, included several recommendations to lift restrictions on the use of federal funds. Current rules limit states’ use of Medicaid money for residential addiction treatment. (Bierman and Levey, 8/8)

But for those on the front lines, Trump's announcement amounted to just more rhetoric. "Talking about the issue as an epidemic alone is not enough," said Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health commissioner. "What's frustrating for us is that we know what works—the science is there—we need much more funding to address this epidemic." (Johnson, 8/8)

From a strictly practical standpoint any emergency declaration would have two main effects, according to Keith Humphreys, an addiction specialist at Stanford University (and frequent Wonkblog contributor) who worked in the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Barack Obama. “First, it lets states and localities that are designated disaster zones to access money in the federal Disaster Relief Fund, just like they could if they had a tornado or hurricane,” Humphreys said. States and cities would be able to request disaster zone declarations from the White House, which would enable them to use federal funds for drug treatment, overdose-reversal medication and more. “Second, declaring an emergency allows temporary waivers of many rules regarding federal programs,” Humphreys said. “For example, currently Medicaid can't reimburse drug treatment in large residential facilities (16 or more beds). That could be waived in an emergency.” (Ingraham, 8/8)

In Arizona, it allowed state officials to get daily reports on overdoses. In Alaska, it allowed officials to expand naloxone use. In Massachusetts, it led to new prescription monitoring guidelines and even a controversial ban on a specific painkiller. But at the national level, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Tuesday the Trump administration did not yet think it was necessary to declare a state of emergency regarding the opioid crisis. And it is still unclear what invoking such powers would mean for an epidemic that is touching every corner of the country and will likely endure for the foreseeable future. (Mershon and Joseph, 8/9)

The president’s efforts on the opioid crisis came under criticism on Tuesday from Democrats and liberal groups. The Democratic National Committee said Trump had done nothing for communities ravaged by the opioid epidemic, while Protect Our Care, a pro-ObamaCare coalition, called the meeting a “sham.” (Roubein, 8/8)