Yaw Lauds Presidential Declaration on Heroin & Opioid Epidemic

HARRISBURG – State Senator Gene Yaw (R-23), Co-Chair of Pennsylvania’s Heroin, Opioid Prevention and Education (PA-HOPE) Caucus, today commended President Trump’s decision to declare the heroin and opioid epidemic a “national emergency.”

Yaw noted that the first and most urgent recommendation of the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis was to have the President declare a national emergency under either the Public Health Service Act or the Stafford Act.

“I am pleased that President Trump had a change of heart,” Yaw said.  “In Pennsylvania, 13 individuals die every day from an overdose.”  “Nationally, 142 Americans are dying every day, with a yearly death toll exceeding the lives lost during the 12 years of the Vietnam War.  By declaring a national emergency, President Trump is empowering his cabinet to take action.  His declaration also forces Congress to focus further on funding, as well as other measures, to address this growing epidemic.”

CONTACT:

Rita Zielonis, Chief of Staff
(717) 787-3280

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