President’s Commission on Opioid Crisis Calls for Nationwide System of Drug Courts

President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released its final report on Wednesday, calling for expanding drug courts into all 94 federal court jurisdictions. The commission also recommended easier access to alternatives to opioids to treat pain, The Washington Post reports.

Drug courts are specialized court programs that target criminal defendants and offenders, juvenile offenders, and parents with pending child welfare cases who have alcohol and other drug dependency problems.

The commission made more than 50 recommendations, including requiring doctors and others who prescribe opioids to demonstrate they have received training in safely providing the drugs before they can renew their licenses to handle controlled substances with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Providers should be required to check prescription drug monitoring databases to ensure patients aren’t “doctor shopping” for prescription drugs, the commission said. In some states, use of the databases is voluntary, the article notes.