The Trump administration is issuing $485 million in grants to all 50 states and U.S. territories —including $11.7 million for Georgia — to combat the nation’s painkiller and heroin overdose epidemic, a crisis that killed more than 33,000 people in 2015.

To be issued through the 21st Century Cures Act, the grant money could be used to fight opioid addiction through prevention, treatment and recovery services.

There are new efforts to confront the threat of a powerful opioid pain killer.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price announced the grants at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta. 

“We cannot continue to lose our nation’s citizens to addiction,” Price wrote in a recent letter to the nation’s governors. “Through a sustained focus on people, patients, and partnerships, I am confident that together we can turn the tide on this public health crisis.”

About the Author

Keep Reading

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo