Narcan (naloxone) is a nasal spray that works to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in two to three minutes, and it has saved countless lives. From October 2017 through June 2024, Narcan saved at least 103,000 lives.
Donald Trump has blasted the Fentanyl crisis to use it for his mass deportation efforts. But now that he’s in office, he doesn’t give a shit. Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with a lengthy history of heroin addiction, is backing plans to end a federal Narcan distribution program credited with helping drive a steep drop in U.S. overdose deaths.
The New York Times reports:
But the Trump administration plans to terminate a $56 million annual grant program that distributes doses and trains emergency responders in communities across the country to administer them, according to a draft budget proposal.
In the document, which outlines details of the drastic reorganization and shrinking planned for the Department of Health and Human Services, the grant is among many addiction prevention and treatment programs to be zeroed out.
…
“Reducing the funding for naloxone and overdose prevention sends the message that we would rather people who use drugs die than get the support they need and deserve,” said Dr. Melody Glenn, an addiction medicine physician and assistant professor at the University of Arizona, who monitors such programs along the state’s southern border.
Via The Latin Times:
Speaking at the Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville on Thursday, Kennedy reflected on his personal struggle with addiction and emphasized the importance of community, treatment, and hope in solving the drug crisis, USA Today reported. However, behind the scenes, the Trump administration’s draft budget includes major cuts to addiction programs, including the termination of the Narcan grant, according to The Independent.
“Narcan has been kind of a godsend as far as opioid epidemics are concerned, and we certainly are in the middle of one now with fentanyl,” Donald McNamara of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. “We need this funding source because it’s saving lives every day.”
Republicans sure have become pro-death in the last few years.
Hundreds of thousands of people will die. I guess that’s his plan.