Administration was right to revise drug agency’s budget

DURING remarks in February to police chiefs and sheriffs from across the country, President Trump promised that his administration would crack down on drug traffickers but also “fight to increase access to life-saving treatment, to battle the addiction to drugs that is afflicting our nation like never, ever before.”

Earlier this month, however, came news that the administration was considering cutting by 95 percent the budget of the Office of National Drug Control Policy —which is responsible for leading the nation’s drug prevention efforts. Those take many forms, but one focus is to help states battle the growing problem of opioid abuse.

The White House plan, as Politico reported at the time, was to create a more streamlined and effective office to direct these policies. Pushback was swift, and ultimately effective.

This week the administration backed away from its proposal, bowing to pressure from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill. The president’s 2018 budget, released Tuesday, includes reductions to the Office of National Drug Control Policy totaling just 3 percent. Two programs initially destined to be eliminated, the Drug Free Communities Initiative and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, would survive under this budget.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was among those applauding the about-face, saying it’s a sign the administration appreciates communities’ struggles against opioids, methamphetamine and other drugs and “how they work to get the most bang for the buck out of the federal dollars sent their way.”

Oklahoma would certainly hate to see federal help dry up as the state works to counter substance abuse issues. Just last week, the Legislature created the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse, which will study the epidemic and pursue policies aimed at reducing its scope.

In the past three years, there have been 2,684 opioid-related deaths reported in Oklahoma, and officials believe that figure is lower than the actual number of such deaths. From 1999 to 2012, drug overdose deaths in Oklahoma increased eightfold.

The new commission is one of several state efforts to address problems with painkillers. A law approved in 2015 requires doctors to use the state’s online prescription database the first time they prescribe some highly addictive medications, and every six months thereafter.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services are partnering to increase access to the drug naloxone for those 19 and younger. If administered in enough time, naloxone can reverse an opiate overdose.

The president’s budget proposal is just that — a proposal. Congress must sign off on the final plan and authorize its funding. Like most government agencies, it’s likely the Office of National Drug Control Policy can absorb a cut. But the original gutting of the agency would have been a mistake. The administration was right to recalibrate.