The Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis postponed the release of its interim report for a second time.
On July 14, the Office of National Drug Control Policy issued a notice rescheduling the commission's report meant to detail a federal strategy to combat the epidemic. The report, scheduled to be delivered via conference call on Monday, was rescheduled for July 31.
Bertha Madras, PhD, a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a member of the opioid commission, told CBS News the delayed report was "trivial compared to the magnitude of the problems and types of solutions needed to formulate an effective response [to the opioid epidemic]."
"The surgeon general's report came out in 2016 after the ravages were present for eight years. [T]he Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act came out after the ravages were present for eight years," Dr. Madras told CBS News. "That's really the story that should be pursued."
When President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to create the special commission, the panel was given an initial deadline of 90 days to issue a report.
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