The White House’s top drug policy official called for Congress to reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy before the end of the year — his top legislative priority for 2024.

“Our reauthorization is really critically important to continue to send a message to communities all across the country that they will continue to get the support of funding from members of Congress for their communities,” ONDCP Director Rahul Gupta said in an interview with CQ Roll Call Tuesday. 

Gupta said that while reauthorization would be his top priority for Congress, it’s part of a longer list of actions the administration wants to take as it works to reduce the number of drug overdose deaths.

Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that at least 99,684 people died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending March 2024, with the total number of deaths projected to be 103,451 when fully counted.

Gupta emphasized that that 12-month period saw a 7.5 percent decrease in overdose deaths, and attributed the decrease in deaths in part to a more than 40 percent increase in federal funding for the drug crisis compared to the previous administration. Gupta said that funding increase has led to developments like funding for xylazine test strips.

ONDCP continues to provide technical assistance to Congress in the hopes that they will be able to schedule the drug, currently commonly used as a veterinary sedative.

He also said 24 states have applied for a Medicaid waiver to expand substance use treatment to correctional facilities, and 11 have already been approved. More than 226 businesses have agreed to keep naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, on hand for emergencies, he said.

This week is recognized as Overdose Awareness Week and Saturday marks International Overdose Awareness Day.

The White Host will host senior administration officials including Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator Miriam Delphin-Rittmon Wednesday as well as advocates and family members of those affected by the drug epidemic. The attendees will represent communities from Montana to Maine, including rural tribal areas. 

Gupta previewed one community story that will be shared Wednesday about a girl who picked up naloxone at a location dispensing the drug and saw her grandma overdose on the way home. She was then able to administer the drug to save her grandma’s life.

“This is the kind of thing we’re going to hear about, the real effect on real people of the efforts of the Biden-Harris administration that is happening to save lives,” said Gupta. “And at the same time, what can we learn more from that? What more can we do to double and triple down our effort to save even more lives?”

ONDCP released its 2024 National Drug Control Strategy in May, which highlights progress needed to reduce untreated addiction and combat drug trafficking networks.

Gupta said he’s also seen progress in the uptake of a flexibility enacted in December 2022 that loosened requirements for providers to prescribe opioid use disorder treatments. Prior to the change, providers had to seek what is known as an X-Waiver to prescribe these drugs, which are classified as controlled substances.

One roadblock to more widespread adoption of such treatments is supply, he said.

During a recent trip to North Carolina, he heard that pharmacies are unable to keep the necessary supply based on demand and based on issues getting buprenorphine, one opioid use treatment, from their distributors.

“We’re still looking into it, is why that is happening. Why aren’t we having more distribution?” he said. 

For methadone, recent rulemaking has made it easier for prisons to get access to the treatment, but access issues arise when formerly incarcerated people return to their communities, especially in rural areas without opioid treatment providers.

Interdiction still remains a top priority.

Law enforcement seizures of fentanyl pills were 2,300 times greater in 2023 compared to 2017, according to a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study released in May 2024. Last year enforcement seized more than 115 million fentanyl pills, representing 49 percent of all illegal fentanyl seized.

Earlier this month, China announced it would schedule three chemical precursors to fentanyl. It’s the third such announcement since a November 2023 counter-narcotics meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese officials. 

“We’re putting a lot more resources into making sure that we’re working with the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” said Gupta, adding that similar work was happening with Mexico, with more details expected.