Biden drug control plan stresses harm reduction, treatment
ABC News
President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress
President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress as the U.S. overdose death toll hit a new record of nearly 107,000 during the past 12 months.
The strategy, released Thursday, is the first national plan to prioritize what's known as harm reduction, said White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta. That means it focuses on preventing death and illness in drug users while trying to engage them in care and treatment.
The strategy calls for changes in state laws and policies to support the expansion of harm reduction.
“All too often, these drugs wind up in communities where naloxone isn’t readily available,” Gupta said Wednesday, referring to the medication that can revive users who have overdosed, “where harm reduction services are restricted or underfunded, where there are unacceptable barriers to treatment.”
