Oklahoma commission reacts to President Trump's opioid crisis declaration

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — President Donald Trump declared opioid abuse a national public health emergency on Thursday. He announced steps to combat what he called the worst drug crisis in U.S. history.

“It is time to liberate our communities from the scourge of drug addiction,” said President Trump.

The epidemic hits close to home in Oklahoma, where 3,000 people died from opioid abuse in the past three years.

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The president’s announcement came on the same day the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse met to address the issue.

“I see this tragedy every day,” said Dr. Kevin Taubman, a member of the commission and a practicing physician. “Children are being taken away from their parents because of addiction, people are losing their jobs, they’re suffering, they’re dying prematurely. It’s an everyday occurrence in our state.”

The commission is reviewing all aspects of the epidemic in order to propose new strategies to combat the problem by the end of the year.

“I think it’s a clear and present danger that we’ve got to address and we’ve got to address now,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter.

He called the president’s announcement overdue.

“I’m sorry it’s taken this long for the federal government to wake up to what’s going on around the country,” Hunter said.

Even though the designation doesn’t automatically direct additional dollars to fight the crisis, Hunter is hopeful it will give the state the ability to partner with the federal government for funding.

“There are some potential solutions out there,” said Dr. Taubman. “Some of them are quite novel, and some of them are a reinvention of what’s already there, but it’s a very costly process.”

With the state dealing with a $215 million budget gap, figuring out how to fund potential solutions is critical.

“It’s a nightmare, and we can’t just wring our hands,” said Hunter. “We’ve got to deal with it aggressively. So I’m glad the president has stepped up, and again my commitment to folks here at the capitol is to sit down with them and figure out how to get these things funded.”

The commission will meet again in November.