Progress on overdose deaths could be jeopardized by federal cuts, critics say

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Shalina Chatlani, Stateline.org

The Trump administration has made deep cuts to the main federal agency focused on fighting opioid addiction, potentially jeopardizing the nation’s recent progress on reducing overdose deaths, some public health officials and providers say.

Created in 1992, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, known as SAMHSA, hands out billions in grants for mental health and addiction services. The agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, had a budget of about $7.5 billion last year.

Since January, the Trump administration has reduced the agency’s staff by more than half, scrapped $1.7 billion in block grants for state health departments and eliminated roughly $3