“The opioid crisis is viewed by us at the White House as a nonpartisan problem searching for a bipartisan solution,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said. The White House said it wants people who deal fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that has caused deaths to skyrocket nationwide, to be prosecuted more aggressively. The White House wants to sharply reduce the number of painkillers that are prescribed nationwide, aiming to slash opioid prescriptions by one-third over three years. In addition, the administration wants to create a national prescription-drug monitoring system so suspicious prescriptions can be flagged. The White House said it does not support such facilities because they have not seen “clear and convincing evidence” that they work.

Source: National Post March 19, 2018 13:33 UTC