Yahoo News Explains: What the Trump administration is doing about the opioid crisis

Wednesday, President Trump signed a major piece of legislation in the fight against the opioid crisis.

The bill, which passed both houses of Congress virtually unopposed, brings together multiple smaller proposals to address prevention, treatment and recovery.

Roughly 20 organizations are joining the effort. For instance, Adapt Pharma pledges to donate the overdose-revival drug Narcan to every public library and YMCA in the country.

The Trump administration has already devoted billions of dollars to combat the epidemic, with a lot of bipartisan support.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioids are a class of drugs that includes:

• The illegal drug heroin

• Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl

• Pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and many others

The CDC says more than 70,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2017.

The Trump administration will continue its anti-opioids campaign, following the release of four startling PSAs earlier this year.

While Congress appropriated $8.5 billion this year for the epidemic, some legislators propose committing $100 billion over 10 years to fighting the crisis.

Despite this rare bipartisanship and major support from the White House, opioid death rates continue to climb.

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