The Trump administration is withholding approximately $140 million in grants used to fund fentanyl overdose response efforts, according to a report in NPR, which cited four CDC officials. The money is for the Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program, which helps state and local governments track both fatal and nonfatal overdoses in an effort to increase prevention.
“[OD2A funding has] been a critical piece of the decreases we’ve seen in overdose deaths,” Big Cities Health Coalition Director Chrissie Juliano told NPR. “Any changes to funding levels would be catastrophic and would really send us backwards.”
The OD2A funds being withheld from states and local governments are described as “crucial.” NPR reported that the $140 million accounts for half the program.
CDC staffers who spoke with the outlet blamed the Department of Government Efficiency and the cost-cutting efforts by the Office of Management and Budget.
“This is what happens when you start doing these things slash and burn,” the CDC official told NPR.
The officials said the funds are going through a grant review process and could ultimately be withheld permanently.
Trump signs legislation to crack down on fentanyl trafficking
The grant freeze is contrary to other actions taken by the Trump administration to reduce overdose deaths and crack down on trafficking.
On Wednesday, President Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act, which reclassifies all fentanyl related substances as Schedule I narcotics under the Controlled Substances Act. That means the drug has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical value.
“Anyone caught trafficking these illicit poisons will be punished with a mandatory ten-year minimum sentence in prison,” President Donald Trump said at the signing ceremony. “We’ll be getting the drug dealers, pushers and peddlers off our street, and we will not rest until we have ended the drug overdose epidemic.”
On Tuesday, the DEA said it had seized approximately 44 million fentanyl pills and 4,500 pounds of fentanyl powder since Trump was sworn in.
“DEA is hitting the cartels where it hurts—with arrests, with seizures, and with relentless pressure. From meth labs in California to fentanyl pills disguised as pharmaceuticals seized at our border, these operations are saving American lives every single day,” DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said in a statement. “We are not slowing down. We are dismantling these networks piece by piece—and we won’t stop until the last brick of their empire falls.”
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Author: Ray Bogan
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