WASHINGTON D.C. — The Trump administration has proposed terminating a $56 million annual grant that advocates say could set back the fight against opioid overdoses.
The latest budget proposals show the Trump administration intends to eliminate the Overdose Prevention Program and the First Responder Training Program under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
In 2023, the First Responder Training Program exceeded its goal by distributing 101,210 overdose reversal medication kits and training 76,641 individuals on how to administer naloxone, the opioid reversal medication. The goal for 2025 is to distribute 100,000 kits and train 25,000 individuals.
U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen, who represents Colorado's 7th Congressional District, sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging him to come to Colorado and see how first responders are saving lives with naloxone.
“To recommend slashing funding for the overdose reversal drug when we're in an opioid epidemic, in overdose crisis, is beyond incomprehensible,” Pettersen said.
- Read the full letter below
Pettersen has been personally impacted by the opioid epidemic. Her mother became addicted after she was prescribed opioids for a back injury. When her prescription was cut off without access to treatment, her mother started using heroin.
“My mom started overdosing at a higher rate when fentanyl started coming into the supply chain,” Pettersen said. “In one year alone, she overdosed 20 times.”
Ultimately, they were able to get her mother treatment, and she recently celebrated seven years in recovery.
“She would not be alive today if it was not for naloxone,” Pettersen said.
There is concern from advocates that any cuts to the Overdose Prevention Program will set back progress made to prevent opioid overdoses.
For the first time since 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported a 24% decline in U.S. drug overdoses between October 2023 and September 2024, from 114,000 deaths to 87,000. However, opioid overdoses remain the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States.
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