[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 48225-48226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19929]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 84 , No. 177 / Thursday, September 12, 2019 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 48225]]


                Proclamation 9923 of September 6, 2019

                
Opioid Crisis Awareness Week, 2019

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The opioid crisis has devastated communities across 
                America and has stolen precious lives, leaving families 
                with an unfillable void. During Opioid Crisis Awareness 
                Week, we reaffirm our commitment to ending this 
                terrible crisis and eradicating drug addiction from our 
                society.

                On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid 
                overdose. Drug overdose is the leading cause of 
                accidental death in the United States, and opioids are 
                the most common drug used in cases of drug overdose. 
                Since the start of the 21st century, our Nation has 
                lost nearly the same number of lives to the opioid 
                crisis as we lost in World War II.

                My Administration is taking aggressive action to 
                address this nationwide public health emergency. In 
                2018, our High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program 
                disrupted or dismantled nearly 3,000 drug trafficking 
                organizations. During that operation, the Department of 
                Justice seized enough fentanyl to kill more than 
                100,000 Americans out of our communities. Additionally, 
                I released my Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and 
                Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, which is preventing 
                over-prescription, reducing the demand for drugs 
                through education and awareness, and cutting off the 
                flow of illicit drugs across our borders and into 
                American communities. As a part of this Initiative, we 
                are working with State and local partners to expand 
                access to evidence-based addiction treatment in every 
                part of our country. Further, I signed the bipartisan 
                H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that 
                Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for 
                Patients and Communities Act, the largest legislative 
                effort ever to address a single drug crisis in our 
                Nation's history. This law is expanding access to 
                evidence-based treatment, protecting our communities 
                from illicit drugs, investing more in sustained 
                recovery, bringing those in treatment and recovery back 
                into the workforce, and raising awareness of the 
                dangers of illicitly imported synthetic opioids.

                My Administration is determined to use every resource 
                at our disposal to release the grip of addiction 
                plaguing our citizens. This month, the Department of 
                Health and Human Services announced $1.8 billion in new 
                grant money to fight the opioid epidemic. These funds 
                will be delivered to communities where help is most 
                needed and will support State and local governments in 
                obtaining high-quality, comprehensive data to save 
                lives. Moreover, in order to break the cycle of 
                addiction, we must prevent young Americans from ever 
                trying drugs in the first place. To help succeed in 
                this important cause, we launched a nationwide public 
                ad campaign to educate young people about the dangers 
                of misusing prescription opioids. This campaign has 
                already reached 58 percent of young adults. These 
                critical actions, combined with the record $6 billion 
                in new funding I secured during my first 2 years in 
                office to fuel the response to this crisis, are leading 
                to results. Provisional data shows we are making 
                progress, with overdose deaths declining for the first 
                time since 1990.

                It is crucial to remove the societal stigma surrounding 
                those suffering from opioid use and other substance use 
                disorders by approaching addiction as a treatable 
                disease. We need to make it clear that treatment is 
                available

[[Page 48226]]

                and effective, and that recovery is possible. Already, 
                we are seeing encouraging progress toward ensuring that 
                those struggling with addiction receive evidence-based 
                treatment in order to begin the road to recovery. In 
                2018, 250,000 more Americans received medication-
                assisted treatment than in 2016. Through The Crisis 
                Next Door platform, which my Administration launched 
                last year, those who have been affected by the opioid 
                crisis can help encourage other people struggling with 
                addiction to seek the care they need.

                As we observe Opioid Crisis Awareness Week, we 
                strengthen our resolve to win the fight against the 
                opioid epidemic. Together, we will ensure that all 
                Americans have the opportunity for a brighter future, 
                free from the oppression of drug addiction.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim September 8 through 
                September 14, 2019, as Opioid Crisis Awareness Week. I 
                call upon my fellow Americans to observe this week with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, religious services, 
                and other activities that raise awareness about the 
                prescription opioid and heroin epidemic and to consider 
                concrete follow-up activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fourth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2019-19929
Filed 9-11-19; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F9-P