[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 133, 116th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
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.

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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 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.

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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.
DONALD J. TRUMP