President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to develop a commission to address the nation's ongoing opioid epidemic, reports Vox.
Here are four things to know.
1. The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis — which Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will lead — is responsible for drafting a report, due this fall, to highlight the opioid epidemic and offer potential solutions. The commission will also release an initial report within three months, according to Vox.
2. The commission will highlight existing federal funding for the epidemic, identify areas with limited drug treatment options, review opioid addiction prevention strategies and share recommendations with President Trump to boost the government's response to the drug crisis, reports Vox.
3. While President Trump will choose several other individuals to work with Gov. Christie in the commission, the final draft of the order does not list specific names, according to the report.
4. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy will oversee the commission.
5. The American Medical Association commended the creation of the commission and said it looked forward to working with the group to create new policies to end the opioid epidemic.
"We are poised to offer guidance in areas of effective public health approaches, best practices, clinical tools, medication-assisted treatment and barriers to effective treatment," AMA Board Chair Patrice Harris, MD, said in an emailed statement. "We want to emphasize the need to treat substance use disorder as a medical illness and eliminate the stigma associated with seeking treatment for pain and substance abuse."
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