Experts warn Congress cuts to addiction funding will mean more overdose deaths

Lawmakers successful Washington, D.C., are weighing spending cuts to addiction healthcare and probe programs responding to the nation's deadly overdose crisis. Activists and wellness workers submitted a missive to Congress connected Monday protesting the projected fund reductions. OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption

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OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

A conjugation of addiction experts said much than 300 physicians, harm simplification workers and researchers signed a missive delivered to Congress precocious connected Monday informing of "dire consequences" if the U.S. cuts backing for programs that assistance communities conflict the cause overdose epidemic.

"[W]e are seeing drastic cuts to cardinal agencies," the missive said, pointing to proposals successful the White House fund for 2026 that would slash billions of dollars from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and different programs.

The letter, sent to Democratic and Republican leaders, noted that fatal overdoses dropped by astir 26 percent successful 2024 compared with the erstwhile year, according to the latest national information from the CDC. That's the biggest one-year simplification successful decease since the opioid situation began successful the 1990s.

"The simplification successful overdose deaths we witnessed successful 2024 was the effect of sustained and expanding fiscal investment," the missive reads. "Now is not the clip to trim these investments."

The effort to lobby lawmakers was organized successful portion by lawyer Chad Sabora, an addiction betterment activistic and a erstwhile cause idiosyncratic successful St. Louis, Missouri, who helped circulate the letter. He said the addiction assemblage is frightened by the magnitude of spending cuts projected by the White House.

"This would fundamentally implode the existent operation that treats addiction arsenic a nationalist wellness issue," Sabora said. "This would reverse what has worked."

President Donald Trump campaigned successful portion connected a committedness to "end" the fentanyl situation that fueled a deadly surge successful overdoses implicit the past decade. NPR asked White House officials for remark connected however projected spending cuts could impact the nation's fentanyl and cause overdose response. They didn't respond.

Drug overdose deaths inactive assertion astir 82,000 lives successful the U.S. each 12 months, according to the latest disposable preliminary CDC information from November 2024.

That complaint of cause decease remains acold higher than successful different countries, but represents a steep driblet from a highest of astir 114,664 deaths successful a 12 period play recorded successful August 2023.

Experts warned addiction betterment programs successful agrarian areas and mediocre municipality neighborhoods could beryllium deed particularly hard if lawmakers travel the Trump administration's projected budget. There is besides interest that probe efforts tracking new synthetic thoroughfare drugs being sold successful American communities could besides beryllium defunded. "It volition marque everything fundamentally a guessing game," Sabora said.

This comes arsenic cause argumentation experts, hospitals and betterment clinics are besides bracing for imaginable cuts to Medicaid funding. Under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expanded rapidly and present provides overmuch of the security sum successful the U.S. for radical seeking aesculapian attraction for addiction.

"It's a scary time. We're terrified astir the anticipation of what mightiness hap if Medicaid is diminished significantly," said Dr. Stephen Taylor with the American Society of Addiction Medicine. "Our anticipation is to beryllium capable to person policy-makers and radical who person power of things to not marque changes we cognize would devastate the radical we instrumentality attraction of."

A preliminary estimate compiled by the Congressional Budget Office, released by Democratic lawmakers connected Sunday, recovered that Medicaid cuts projected by House Republicans would trim the fig of debased income Americans covered by wellness security by "at slightest 8.6 cardinal successful 2034." It's not wide however galore of the radical affected are receiving attraction for addiction.