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The Opioid Epidemic, & More from CRS

10.26.17 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

President Trump will declare the escalating number of drug deaths from opioids as a “public health emergency” — but not a “national emergency” — in an announcement scheduled for today.

The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report on aspects of the problem, including an overview of opioid abuse, a review of opioid supply, and a survey of federal programs that deal with the issue. See The Opioid Epidemic and Federal Efforts to Address It: Frequently Asked Questions, October 18, 2017.

On the origins of the crisis, see “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, October 30, 2017.

Other new and updated publications from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Poverty in the United States in 2016: In Brief, October 25, 2017

EPA Proposes to Repeal the Clean Power Plan, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 25, 2017

Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal, updated October 23, 2017

Gun Control: Silencers under the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 3668), CRS Insight, October 16, 2017

Tracking Federal Funds: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources, updated October 24, 2017

Human Trafficking: New Global Estimates of Forced Labor and Modern Slavery, CRS Insight, October 18, 2017

U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), CRS Insight, October 17, 2017

Overview of “Travel Ban” Litigation and Recent Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 23, 2017

Iran Policy and the European Union, CRS Insight, updated October 18, 2017

States’ Obligations Under Additional Protocols to IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements, CRS memorandum, October 23, 2017

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