Common ground

The deadly growth of opioid drug abuse needs serious investigation, legal enforcement and wider awareness. That’s a checklist that might seem impossible to find in Washington’s caustic atmosphere, but there’s a chance for common ground.

In just one day this week, both the Trump White House and a leading Democrat in the Senate held separate but similar sessions to delve into a health menace that led to 33,000 drugoverdose deaths in 2015, a rate that kills just less than 100 people a day.

Opioids include heroin and prescription drugs such as Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin, given for alleviating pain. Extended use of these painkillers can lead to addiction and fatal overdoses. It’s a problem that cuts across income, class and region.

Drugmakers don’t see it that way. They’ve hired lobbyists and doled out more than $880 million in campaign contributions to stop stricter policies. Drug regulators have moved far too slowly to crack down on pill mills and free-dispensing doctors.

Change might be on the way. President Trump’s proposed budget calls for $500 million more on opioid prevention and treatment and has named an ally, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to head an inquiry. In the Senate, Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill is pressing for specifics from drugmakers on sales tactics and medical studies. A bill by another senator, Ohio Republican Rob Portman, would limit overseas shipments of drugs, one end run on dispensing rules.

Opioid addiction isn’t a political issue, as these different voices and approaches show. It’s a fast-growing health menace that is drawing in all sides as the damage mounts. Washington should capitalize on a rare note of unity to curb opioid sales, treat addicts and warn the public of a drug danger.