Here’s the good news: Overdose deaths in the United States fell by nearly 25%. Down to 87,000 in 2024 from 114,000 in 2023. Taking the previous upward trend of the epidemic, that’s tens of thousands of lives saved from one year to the next.
Here’s the bad news: 87,000 Americans still lost their lives to the opioid crisis last year, that is 87,000 too many and far from our goal of 0 overdoses.
Now here comes the ugly: Trump wants to take the achievements we’ve made in battling opioid dependency and overdoses and throw it all away, putting thousands of lives at risk.
Urge Congress to Keep Naloxone Funding in Place
One major factor behind the downturn in deaths is Naloxone (Narcan) — a life-saving medication that can reverse opioid overdoses in minutes. Now widely accessible to the public, it's become an essential resource for first responders, who are often the first to arrive when every second counts. Across the country, many police and fire departments were able to purchase Naloxone and get trained on how to administer it via a $56m grant managed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) — a part of the Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, in 2024 alone, the program trained 66,000 emergency personnel and distributed over 282,500 naloxone kits nationwide1.
Trump's latest budget proposal slashes $40 billion from the Department of Health and Human Services — and on the chopping block is that $56 million grant, leaving many of our first responders — especially those in rural areas with limited resources — toothless to battle against the plague of O.D.s.
Keep Naloxone in the hands of our first responders & save lives.
For whatever reason, Trump seems fixated on slashing funding for programs that help everyday Americans — all under the tired excuse of rooting out “waste, fraud, and abuse.” But here’s the truth:
- Equipping first responders with naloxone is a proven, cost-effective strategy that prevents unnecessary emergency room visits and lowers public health expenses — far from government waste, it’s a life-saving investment2.
- The true fraud is pretending to care about the opioid crisis while defunding tools that actually save lives. Naloxone offers a second chance to people battling addiction — a chance to recover, heal, and contribute to society.
- Denying communities access to overdose-reversal medication is a form of policy abuse that endangers public health. Overdose deaths ripple through families and neighborhoods — naloxone protects everyone, not just those who use it.
The $56m SAMHSA grant represents just 0.0014% of the proposed cuts — a fraction so small it’s just 7 out of every 5,000 dollars. Yet the lives it protects could number in the tens of thousands.
Eliminating it would be irresponsible and dangerous. Public health leaders warn it could cause overdose deaths to spike back to 2023 levels or worse and leaders on both sides of the aisle recognize the importance of Narcan and it is legally available in all 50 states in some form or another. This cut would amount to a devastating setback that flies in the face of Trump’s own promises to tackle the opioid crisis.
It’s not just bad policy — it’s a decision that could cost lives. Urge your Congressperson to tell the Trump Administration: Don’t put dollars over lives. Keep naloxone funding in place. Sign the petition now.
Sources:
1. Trump Budget Draft Ends Narcan Program and Other Addiction Measures
2. Opiod-overdose 'miracle drug' faces $56M in cuts
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