Leaked E-mail Indicates White House Proposes Slashing Drug Policy Office Budget

The White House is proposing a cut of 94 percent to the budget of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), according to an e-mail to agency employees by Acting Director Richard Baum. He asked employees not to share the information, but the e-mail was quickly leaked, NPR reports.

The proposed budget fully eliminates several programs involved in fighting the opioid epidemic, the article notes.

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who co-sponsored the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which was signed by President Obama last year, sent a letter to Office of Management & Budget Director Mick Mulvaney urging the Trump Administration to reconsider cuts to the ONDCP. “We have a heroin and prescription drug crisis in this country, and we should be supporting efforts to reverse this tide, not proposing drastic cuts to those who serve on the front lines of this epidemic,” he said in a statement.