Donald Trump

“ We must and are focusing so much of our effort on drug demand reduction. We must confront the culture of drug abuse head-on to reduce demand for dangerous narcotics. Every person who buys illicit drugs here in America should know that they are risking their futures, their families, and even their lives. And every American should know that if they purchase illegal drugs, they are helping to finance some of the most violent, cruel, and ruthless organizations anywhere in the world. Illegal drug use is not a victimless crime. ”

“ More people are dying from drug overdoses today than from gun homicides and motor vehicles combined. Think of it — motor vehicle crashes, gun homicides, more people by far from drug overdoses.
These overdoses are driven by a massive increase in addiction to prescription painkillers, heroin, and other opioids. Last year, almost 1 million Americans used heroin, and more than 11 million abused prescription opioids. The United States is by far the largest consumer of these drugs, using more opioid pills per person than any other country by far in the world. ”

“ This crisis of drug use, addiction, and overdose deaths in many years, it’s just been so long in the making. Addressing it will require all of our effort and it will require us to confront the crisis in all of its very real complexity.
Last year, we lost at least 64,000 Americans to overdoses. That’s 175 lost American lives per day. That’s seven lost lives per hour in our country. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States by far. ”

“ This was an idea that I had, where if we can teach young people not to take drugs — just not to take them. When I see friends of mine that are having difficulty with not having that drink at dinner, where it’s literally almost impossible for them to stop, I say to myself, I can’t even understand it — why would that be difficult? But we understand why it is difficult. ”

“ We want them to get the help they need. We have no choice but to help these people that are hooked and are suffering so they can recover and rebuild their lives with their families.
We’re committed to pursuing innovative approaches that have been proven to work, like drug courts. Our efforts will be based on sound metrics, and guided by evidence and guided by results. This includes making addiction treatment available to those in prison and to help them eventually reenter society as productive and law-abiding citizens. ”

“ I am urging all Americans to help fight this opioid epidemic and the broader issue of drug addiction by participating in the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day this Saturday. When you can safely turn in these dangerous and horrible drugs for disposal, that will be a wonderful, wonderful period of time for you. ”

“ The FDA is now requiring drug companies that manufacture prescription opioids to provide more training to prescribers and to help prevent abuse and addiction, and has requested that one especially high-risk opioid be withdrawn from the market immediately. We are requiring that a specific opioid, which is truly evil, be taken off the market immediately. ”

“ Here in America, we are once again enforcing the law; breaking up gangs and distribution networks; and arresting criminals who peddle dangerous drugs to our youth.
In addition, we understand the need to confront reality, right smack in the face, that millions of our fellow citizens are already addicted. ”

“ But I want the American people to know: The federal government is aggressively fighting the opioid epidemic on all fronts. We’re working with doctors and medical professionals to implement best practices for safe opioid prescribing, and we will do something very, very special. ”

“ We will be bringing some very major lawsuits against people and against companies that are hurting our people. And that will start taking place pretty soon. (Applause.)
We’re also supporting first responders’ and medical professionals’ access to the tools they need to prevent deaths through life-saving overdose medications.
At my direction, the National Institute of Health, headed up by Francis Collins, has taken the first steps of an ambitious public-private partnership with pharmaceutical companies to develop non-addictive painkillers and new treatments for addiction and overdose. ”

“ I will be pushing the concept of non-addictive painkillers very, very hard. We have to come up with that solution. We give away billions and billions of dollars a year, and we’re going to be spending lots of money on coming up with a non-addictive solution. ”

“ Collins and the NIH for substantial resources in the fight against drug addiction. One of the things our administration will be doing is a massive advertising campaign to get people, especially children, not to want to take drugs in the first place because they will see the devastation and the ruination it causes to people and people’s lives. ”