In Case You Haven't Heard...

MORTALITY prevention; HEALTH policy; SUBSTANCE abuse; HEALTH services accessibility; PRACTICAL politics; BUPRENORPHINE; DRUG overdose; MEDICAL care costs

Drugs were a topic, of course, in President Biden's State of the Union (SOTU) speech on Feb. 7. Not only did he refer to past efforts of his administration, but to hopeful changes for the future, noting correctly that indeed, treating substance use issues is not political. Rahul Gupta, M.D., director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, issued a statement that night. Gupta touted removal of the X‐waiver for buprenorphine (see ADAWhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.33651) as the main factor in making treatment more accessible. "The overdose epidemic is not a red state problem or a blue state problem — it's America's problem and the President has reaffirmed his commitment to continuing our work together to beat this crisis," he said. Gupta added that, "the President called for removing barriers to treatment, and we have delivered on that, working with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to remove the X‐waiver." Gupta also cited a reduction in opioid overdose deaths. For a fact sheet from the White House on the SOTU, go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing‐room/statements‐releases/2023/02/07/fact‐sheet‐in‐state‐of‐the‐union‐president‐biden‐to‐outline‐vision‐to‐advance‐progress‐on‐unity‐agenda‐in‐year‐ahead/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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