Here’s an excellent editorial from the NYT.
Source: Words, Not Action, From Mr. Trump on Opioids
The NYT is right to be highly critical of Donald Trump‘s absence of leadership on the opioid epidemic. Now that this has become a national crisis, Trump weak intervention is an integral part of the problem.
But I disagree with the NYT that the US government‘s policy must be about empathy and care.
Trump seems to respect major military figures in government. Perhaps, he needs a former general to implement the recommendations of his opioids commission but as a first step he must surely declare a national public health emergency?
Thoughts?
Dr Alf's Blog 
A public health emergency must be declared and doctors in America must be required to offer more treatments which are not solely based on drugs.
Similarly, people have to be nudged into better lifestyles and taking greater care of their own
health and thinking processes.
Dr Alf is right to say that the process must involve Donald Trump taking effective action based on a strong response to the problem once he understands it fully along with all its ramifications.
His problem with non prescription drugs is of course the flow of poppy crop from places like Afghanistan which used to be facilitated by Hamid Karzai,s brother who worked for the CIA who augmented their budget with the proceeds of drug sales .
The left hand in the form of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI and the police are trying to stop drug trafficking but the right hand is bringing the deadly material into the country where proceeds keep Wall Street and the banking system afloat whilst the price is lower productivity ,death’s of drug addicts and a massive medical emergency.
It may well take one of Trumps generals to cut through the Gordian knot but as things stand there is no solution from the Donald.