© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Attorney General Sessions Says Federal Government Committed To Fighting Opioid Crisis

Attorney General Jeff Sessions standing behind lecturn.
Regan McCarthy
/
WFSUnews

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stopped in Tallahassee Thursday to reiterate President Donald Trump’s commitment to addressing the opioid crisis. He says Trump included some “bold” goals when he unveiled a new three-pillar plan earlier this week.

“He set a goal for us—we’re going to reduce the prescription opioids by 30 percent over the next three years. I think that’s doable. It’s something I have known we need to do. The plain fact is we are prescribing too many opioids in America today and I think most people know that. And we have to be careful about it. It’s causing addiction and people who get addicted don’t just walk in a treatment center one day and come out the next without being permanently impacted,” Sessions says.

Another goal Trump announced relates to stopping drug dealers. The president suggested that crackdown should include the death penalty and Session says he began implementing the president’s order Wednesday. He says drug dealing often leads to violence and even murder.

“Gangs, these gangs murder people on whims sometimes. They are often deliberately providing drugs that result in deaths. So we will be careful how we handle these cases, but we will not hesitate to bring the death penalty when appropriate,” Sessions says.

The third piece of the president’s plan relates to treatment. He wants to increase support services for people who are addicted. The Trump administration has created a website, called The Crisis Next Door. It encourages people to tell their stories about how opioid abuse has impacted their lives or their families in an effort to increase education and reduce the stigma associated with addiction.

Follow @Regan_McCarthy

Regan McCarthy is the Assistant News Director for WFSU Public Media. Before coming to Tallahassee, Regan graduated with honors from Indiana University’s Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. She worked for several years for NPR member station WFIU in Bloomington, Ind., where she covered local and state government and produced feature and community stories.

Phone: (850) 645-6090 | rmccarthy@fsu.edu

Find complete bio, contact info, and more stories here.