- Trump Declares Opioid Crisis a 'Health Emergency' but Requests No Funds New York Times by Julie Hirschfeld Davis — President Trump on Thursday directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, taking long-anticipated action to address a rapidly escalating epidemic of drug use. But even as he vowed to alleviate the scourge of drug addiction and abuse that has swept the country — a priority that resonated strongly with the working-class voters who supported his presidential campaign — Mr. Trump fell short of fulfilling his promise in August to declare "a national emergency" on opioids, which would have prompted the rapid allocation of federal funding to address the issue.
- AP Fact Check: Past Anti-Drug Campaigns Show Little Success Associated Press by Matthew Perrone — President Donald Trump is promising a "massive advertising campaign" as part of his administration's response to the worst drug crisis in U.S. history, but past marketing efforts have shown few results and experts say other measures could be far more effective in curbing the current epidemic. Yet government and academic assessments of "Just Say No"-style messages have repeatedly shown poor results. Between 1998 and 2004 the U.S. government spent nearly $1 billion on a national campaign designed to discourage use of illegal drugs among young people, particularly marijuana. A 2008 follow-up study funded by the National Institutes of Health found the campaign "had no favorable effects on youths' behavior" and may have actually prompted some to experiment with drugs, an unintended "boomerang" effect.