(LibertySociety.com) – In recent months, the Biden administration has ramped up its efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis that is sweeping across the nation. After the massive increase in fentanyl poisoning deaths and Republican lawmakers’ lambasting President Biden for inaction, his administration appears to be taking the situation more seriously. Back in April, the White House announced a new global effort to disrupt the activities of the drug trafficking networks around the world, including their financial capabilities. In June, the Department of Justice indicted four Chinese companies for shipping precursor chemicals to cartels in Mexico that manufacture the deadly drug. The Chinese government has claimed that it is cooperating with the United States to stop companies from manufacturing precursors, but Customs & Border Protection is still seizing record amounts of fentanyl at the southern border.
Over 100,000 Americans are dying from overdoses every year, with the majority stemming from opioid abuse. The Biden administration is looking to address this public health crisis with new funding announced on August 31. Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, and Rahul Gupta, the White House’s director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, spoke to the press ahead of an event with families who have lost loved ones to overdose. Emhoff praised the announcement of the new funding to assist families and raise awareness, stating that “Substance abuse disorders impact families across all of our nation.”
With $450 million in funding allotted for the effort, the Biden administration believes that it can stop overdose deaths and educate the public on the dangers of fentanyl. $20.5 million will be split between 164 community-based support programs to help prevent overdose deaths. A $1 million campaign will be targeted toward youth awareness of fentanyl, and $18.9 million will aid in the Biden administration’s effort to shut down trafficking operations. $57.6 million will be allocated to provide treatment options for addicts, and the remainder will be distributed among state governments and rural areas to help respond to and prevent overdose deaths.
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