White House drug control official calls for renewal of powers for his office

The White House's top drug policy official called on Congress to reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy before the end of the year – his top legislative priority for 2024.

“Our reauthorization is really critical to continue to send the message to communities across the country that they will continue to receive financial support from members of Congress for their communities,” ONDCP Director Rahul Gupta said in an interview with CQ Roll Call on Tuesday.

Gupta said reauthorization is his top priority in Congress, but it is just part of a longer list of actions the administration wants to take to reduce the number of drug overdose deaths.

Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that at least 99,684 people died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending March 2024. When fully counted, the total number of deaths is estimated at 103,451.

Gupta emphasized that there was a 7.5 percent decrease in overdose deaths during that 12-month period. He attributed that decrease in part to a more than 40 percent increase in federal funding to combat the drug crisis compared to the previous administration. Gupta said the funding increase led to developments such as funding for xylazine test strips.

The ONDCP continues to provide technical assistance to Congress in the hope that it will succeed in adding the drug, which is currently commonly used as a sedative in veterinary medicine, to the regulatory list.

He also said 24 states have applied for Medicaid waivers to expand substance abuse treatment to correctional facilities, and 11 of those have already been approved. More than 226 companies have agreed to stockpile naloxone, a drug used to treat opioid overdoses, for emergency use, he said.

This week is Overdose Awareness Week and Saturday is International Overdose Awareness Day.

The white host will host senior government officials on Wednesday, including Health Secretary Xavier Becerra and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Director Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, as well as advocates and family members of those affected by the drug epidemic. Participants will represent communities from Montana to Maine, including rural tribal lands.

Gupta previewed a story from the community that will be released Wednesday about a girl who picked up naloxone from a place where the drug was being distributed and saw her grandmother overdose on her way home. She was then able to administer the drug, saving her grandmother's life.

“That's the kind of thing we're going to hear about, the real impact on people of the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to save lives,” Gupta said. “And at the same time, what more can we learn from this? What more can we do to double and triple our efforts to save even more lives?”

The ONDCP released its 2024 National Drug Control Strategy in May, highlighting the progress needed to reduce untreated substance use disorders and combat drug trafficking networks.

Gupta said he also saw progress on a flexibility rule introduced in December 2022 that relaxed requirements for providers to prescribe treatments for opioid use disorder. Before the change, providers had to apply for a so-called X-waiver to prescribe these drugs, which are classified as controlled substances.

One obstacle to wider use of such treatments is supply, he said.

During a recent trip to North Carolina, he learned that pharmacies were unable to maintain the necessary supply to meet demand and were having trouble getting buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, from their distributors.

“We are still investigating why this is happening. Why aren't we distributing more?” he said.

With regard to methadone, recent legislation has made it easier for prisons to access this treatment. However, access issues arise when former inmates return to their communities, particularly in rural areas where there are no opioid treatment providers.

Stopping the fight remains the highest priority.

According to a study published in May 2024 and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, law enforcement seized 2,300 times more fentanyl pills in 2023 than in 2017. Last year, authorities seized more than 115 million fentanyl pills, representing 49 percent of the total amount of fentanyl seized illegally.

Earlier this month, China announced it would add three chemical precursors to fentanyl to the list, the third such announcement since President Joe Biden and Chinese counter-narcotics officials met in November 2023.

“We are investing much more resources to ensure that we work with the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” Gupta said, adding that similar work was underway with Mexico and further details were awaited.