LIFE MATTERS –
April 10, 2025 – Federal spending cuts instigated by the White House threaten to reverse a steep decline in American overdose deaths and are jeopardizing other gains in the battle against synthetic opioids, people on the front lines of the anti-narcotics fight say. Government drug researchers have been sacked One of the nation’s premier narcotics testing labs has furloughed chemists who test the potency of illicit drugs. A Pennsylvania outreach center that distributed thousands of doses of lifesaving overdose-reversal medication has closed its doors. An Illinois nonprofit that works to reduce overdose deaths in communities of color is slated to lose grants worth 60% of its budget. The office of federal workers who conduct the nation’s only annual survey on drug use has been gutted.
To piece together how the Trump administration’s actions could affect the nation’s overdose crisis, Reuters spoke with more than three dozen current and former U.S. health officials, public health experts, community-level harm reduction advocates and recently fired federal workers.
