[W]ASHINGTON — A national commission appointed by President Donald Trump has made dozens of recommendations for addressing the opioid epidemic, but critics say the administration has failed to provide adequate resources.
The president’s commission on the opioid crisis, headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, made 56 recommendations for improving the country’s response to the epidemic in a report released earlier this month.
Officials who deal with the opioid crisis in Vermont say that they see some good recommendations in the report, but also noted a need for resources to expand existing programs.
A state council convened by Gov. Phil Scott on the opioid crisis is expected to release recommendations for addressing the epidemic in Vermont in the near future.
The national report was released shortly after President Donald Trump declared opioid addiction to be a national public health crisis.
The report makes recommendations about getting federal funding to states more quickly and lifting administrative restrictions on funding, though it does not recommend how much money should be appropriated.
The commission suggests making non-opioid pain treatment options more available and increasing access to medication-assisted treatment under federal health programs. It also recommends the creation of more drug courts in the federal justice system.
In a cover letter, Christie notes that some people advocate for marijuana to be used as treatment for chronic pain and opioid addiction. However, the commission recommends against making marijuana more widely available, saying that there is not sufficient data on dosage and potential for abuse.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., welcomed the acknowledgment of the extent of the opioid crisis. However, he said that the recommendations in the report rely on streams of funding that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have proposed to cut — such as the Medicaid program.
“Reports matter, but they only gather dust if they’re not acted on, with the resources necessary to implement them,” Leahy said. “Opioid abuse is a crisis and must be a high priority. Budget and appropriations decisions are where we set our national priorities and make them real.”
Tom Anderson, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, said he found the report to be thorough.
Anderson was struck by recommendations to increase programs to prevent addiction through schools.
“Making the schools sort of a critical part of this I thought was an interesting takeaway from that,” Anderson said.
He also mentioned the recommendations to increase monitoring of opioid prescribing.
Vermont has in place a system to monitor prescriptions, but Anderson said that law enforcement currently does not have a role.
“We virtually have no access to that information,” he said.
Andersons said that hampers the ability of Vermont law enforcement to investigate diversion of prescription opioids within the system.
Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said the president’s commission’s report has a heavier focus on what the federal government can do.
Levine said he didn’t see much in the national report from a health and treatment perspective that stood out as new.
“We actually have a tremendous amount going on and we want to just scale it up,” Levine said.
Levine said he would like to “reinforce programs that are scattered and make them truly statewide.”
For instance, about a third of supervisory unions have comprehensive substance abuse programs now, and Levine would like to see that expand.
Levine noted that Trump opted not to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency, instead declaring it a public health emergency. A national emergency declaration would trigger availability of more funds, he said.
