Trump to declare opioid crisis a ‘national emergency’

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will officially declare the opioid crisis a “national emergency’’ and pledged to ramp up government efforts to combat the epidemic.

“The opioid crisis is an emergency. And I am saying officially right now: It is an emergency, it’s a national emergency. We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis,’’ Trump told reporters during a brief question-and-answer session ahead of a security briefing Thursday at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. He said he’d be drawing up documents to formalize the declaration soon.

A drug commission convened by Trump and led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently called on Trump to declare a national emergency to help deal with the growing crisis. An initial report from the commission noted that the approximately 142 deaths each day from drug overdoses mean the death toll is “equal to September 11th every three weeks.’’