President Obama plans to adopt a multi-pronged strategy to tackle prescription drug and heroin abuse, hoping to spread the use of treatments for overdoses.
The strategic plan, to be rolled out during a speech in West Virginia on Wednesday, focuses on improving access to treatment for drug abuse and properly training doctors who dole out painkillers.
A major problem that contributes to the opioid abuse epidemic is overprescribing painkillers, sometimes when they are not necessary, said Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in a Wednesday call with reporters.
West Virginia has been hit especially hard by the epidemic. The state had the highest overdose rate in the country two years ago, according to a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health.
Obama ordered federal agencies to review the types of drugs it doles out under federal programs to treat abuse.
He also called on federal contractors who are healthcare professionals who prescribe opioids to take extensive training on how to properly prescribe them.
The administration also touted a commitment from more than 40 doctor, dentist, nursing and other health professional groups on offering opioid training.
Obama also announced a new ad campaign set to start Wednesday on the risks of prescription drug abuse.
Opioid abuse has continued to be a big public health issue, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that 44 people a day die from overdoses.
The growth of prescription drug abuse has fueled a rise in heroin use, as the number of overdoses nearly doubled from 2011 to 2013, the administration said.
The illegal drug is more readily available and cheaper for addicts than painkillers.
The problem of drug abuse isn’t a partisan issue, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose home state of Kentucky also has been hit hard by the epidemic.
“Finding solutions to this epidemic will require all of us, Republicans and Democrats alike, working together at the federal, state and local levels,” according to a statement in USA Today.
Another Republican gave praise to the plan.
“There’s a lot of good news in what the White House is putting forward today,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “I’ve been among many senators who urged the administration to re-instate the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day for unused medicines. I’m glad to see that program back in place.”
