XENIA — Two critical pieces in the fight against the opioid epidemic are to increase government spending to expand treatment for the drug addicted and accelerate efforts to disrupt the networks that traffic and distribute the drugs, a Biden administration official said Thursday evening.
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“For far too long, too many Americans have died from the opioid crisis, Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said in an interview with News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis.
“For five months in a row, we are seeing a decrease in drug overdose deaths and poisonings, Gupta said. But at the same time, he continued, these [deaths and poisonings] remain unacceptably high.”
Gupta said the Biden administration has worked to avert 3,000 deaths a year, which shows that it’s possible to save even more lives but the work to expand treatment and accelerate efforts to disrupt the trafficking and distribution of opioids must continue.
President Joe Biden is working to make the antidote, Naloxone (also known as Narcan), as widely available as ventilators, Gupta said.
How much longer will fentanyl be a problem in Ohio and elsewhere?
“I think it’s going to be a challenge,” Gupta said.
To that end, Biden, during his State of Union address Tuesday night, announced that his administration will:
◊ Stop more fentanyl from getting into the U.S. at the Southwest Border Ports of Entry. By providing 123 new large-scale scanners at Land Points of Entry along the Southwest Border by Fiscal Year 2026, Customs and Border Protection will increase its inspection capacity from what has historically been around two percent of passenger vehicles and about 17 percent of cargo vehicles to 40 percent of passenger vehicles and 70 percent of cargo vehicles.
◊ Stop more packages from being shipped into the United States with fentanyl and the materials used to make it.
◊ Lead a sustained diplomatic push that will address fentanyl and its supply chain abroad. The administration will work with international partners to disrupt the global fentanyl production and supply chain, and call on others to join the efforts.
◊ Deliver more life-saving Naloxone to communities hit hard by fentanyl. In late spring, HHS will take steps to encourage and aide states in their efforts to use existing funding to purchase Naloxone and distribute it in their communities.
◊ Ensure every jail and prison across the nation can provide treatment for substance use disorder. By this summer, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will ensure that each of its 122 facilities are equipped and trained to provide in-house medication-assisted treatment .
◊ Launch a national campaign to educate young people on the dangers of fentanyl, and how Naloxone saves lives. The Ad Council’s Real Deal on Fentanyl campaign has raised awareness about the dangers of fentanyl among youth.
But, Gupta said, “the Biden administration is going after the entire global supply chain and the profits that come from it. We have to be pro-active and that’s exactly what the president called for.”
Being pro-active is exactly what Jeremiah and Carolyn Byrd are doing in Xenia through their Save Our Souls Ministries, whose mission is to save the drug addicted as well as victims of human trafficking.
The journey the Byrds began years ago continues today through the operation of three transition houses and a program to help those in recovery find work.
So far, he said, SOS Ministries has made 286 direct rescues.
“We do it one person at a time. We know every one of their names,” he said. “That one person might help five more.”
He said they have seen fentanyl in Xenia, Dayton, Chillicothe, Kentucky and elsewhere.
Like Gupta, Jeremiah Byrd believes the fight to eradicate opioids will be difficult, but that the fight must continue as a cooperative effort that includes churches and communities as well as the government.
“The first thing that needs to happen is that the stigma needs to be reduced,” Byrd said.