In an all-staff email to employees in the Office of National Drug Control Policy, acting Director Richard Baum shared some news he described as "very discouraging for our Nation's effort to address drug abuse." A draft document from the White House budget office, obtained by NPR, proposes nearly zeroing out funding for the ONDCP and fully eliminating several programs involved in fighting the opioid crisis. Leaked documents indicate about a 94 percent overall cut.

"These drastic proposed cuts are frankly heartbreaking," wrote Baum, whose position is also referred to as "drug czar." His email explained that the document was "pre-decisional" and could change. He asked that the information not be shared outside of the agency. But it quickly leaked out, causing alarm in the tightknit addiction help community and among lawmakers.

"We have a heroin and prescription drug crisis in this country, and we should be supporting efforts to reverse this tide, not proposing drastic cuts to those who serve on the front lines of this epidemic," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement. [...]

President Trump made combating the epidemic of opioid-related overdose deaths a central theme of his campaign, delivering a speech in mid-October 2016 outlining a detailed policy prescription.