(CNN) Fresh on the heels of President Donald Trump's plan to tackle the opioid crisis , House lawmakers this week plan to introduce more than two dozen bills aimed at ending the epidemic, ranging from better access to treatment programs to exploring opioid alternatives for pain. Chairman Greg Walden, a Republican from Oregon, has made combating the opioid epidemic the committee's top priority, saying lawmakers are "crafting legislative solutions to help stem the tide and investigating some of the root causes of this scourge." Trump has declared the epidemic a public health emergency and has vowed to fix the crisis. The White House last year estimated the cost of the opioid epidemic at a whopping $500 billion -- a figure that was more than six times higher than the previous estimate of $78.5 billion. Follow CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.

Source: CNN March 20, 2018 13:30 UTC