WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new federal push to fight substance abuse is underway, with the White House calling it a nationwide effort and experts watching closely to see if it delivers real change.
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday evening launching the “Great American Recovery Initiative.”
“The Great American Recovery Initiative will bring together federal, state, local and private sector resources to support addiction, recovery, treatment and prevention,” said Trump.
The announcement comes as overdose deaths decline nationally.
“Drug overdose deaths plummeted by 21% in the last year. We’re working very hard on it. We’ve closed the southern border, seized over 47 million fentanyl pills and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. That’s a record,” Trump added.
Still, the crisis is far from over. More than 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year.
“It’s absolutely an important step to take,” said John Puls, a psychotherapist and addiction specialist and founder of Full Life Comprehensive Care.
He’s optimistic the new federal effort will boost collaboration and provide support to proven initiatives.
“Initiatives like providing naloxone, the overdose reversal drug for opioids, increasing access to that — increased access to evidence-based treatments such as buprenorphine, methadone for those with an opioid use disorder,” said Puls. “I believe in general that we have a lot of systems for addiction and mental health, but they’re siloed and often don’t communicate with each other. Many of them run on these grants that they don’t know year to year whether or not they will get approved.”
Advocacy leaders say real progress isn’t built on announcements — it’s built on systems that work in real communities.
“There’s lots of promises of coordination and innovation that sounds really good on paper, but the real test is going to be with implementation,” said Libby Jones, associate vice president of overdose prevention at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator.
Jones said communities need fully funded programs that are adequately staffed and supported by federal agencies, with clear follow-through to continue recent trends.
“These recent declines in overdose deaths didn’t happen by accident. This drop came after significant investments in evidence-based treatment, prevention, and recovery supports,” said Jones. “Medications for opioid use disorder work. Naloxone works. Recovery supports work. We need to make sure the systems that are working are supported with stable investments. We’ve made tremendous progress over the last year — and it’s imperative that we keep that progress moving in the right direction.”
