Opioid fight needs new strategy, Cabinet leadership: report

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan report from a congressional commission says the U.S. needs Cabinet-level leadership and a new multipronged strategy to counter its festering overdose epidemic. With powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the COVID-19 pandemic finally recedes. The report from the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking calls opioids one of the most pressing challenges in national security, law enforcement and public health. A co-chair of the commission, Maryland congressman David Trone, says he’s spoken to President Joe Biden and believes Biden fully understands the problem and is committed to taking it on.