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3/17/2018 (World Journal) 編譯孫梁  川普總統19日將宣布解決美國毒品危機的新計畫，重點將從戒毒治療與康復轉移到預防和教育上，並將加大處罰力度，對毒販可處以死刑。(美聯社)川普總統19日將宣布解決美國毒品危機的新計畫，白宮一名高官16日表示，新計畫的重點將從戒毒治療與康復轉移到預防和教育上，並將加大處罰力度，對毒販可處以死刑。 川普將在新罕布夏州宣布新計畫，新罕州是全國毒品氾濫最嚴重的州之一，過量服用2016年高居全國第三。白宮表示，國會為未來兩年的打擊毒品撥出60億元，川普將宣布資金的用途，包括幫助戒毒者找工作，和勞工部資助長期幫扶計畫，教育部、住房與城市發展部、國務院、司法部、衛生與福利部、國土安全部和退伍軍人事務部的聯邦部門都將參與。 川普近來多次表示要嚴懲毒販，他上周在賓州說，如果有人殺人，兇手將被終身監禁甚至處死，對毒販也可考慮採用死刑。他說，毒販一生可殺死數千人，卻只服刑30天，執法部門抓到毒販，甚至不把他們送進監獄。 白宮官員說，川普對新加坡的禁毒成功感興趣，認為新加坡的禁毒不僅有執法部門，還有學校干預措施和協助康復。 川普提到新加坡沒有毒品政策，因為新加坡對毒品是零容忍，毒販一旦被抓就處死刑。川普還提到可向中國學習，但人權組織對新加坡和中國的執法部門都持批評態度。 對違反聯邦法的毒販處以死刑，需要國會採取行動，白宮官員表示，川普政府希望與國會合作，對持有毒品的現行處罰法律進行修改。白宮說，懲處芬太尼氾濫得到民眾支持，但法律尚未跟上，一個毒販持有的芬太尼可導致2萬人喪命，卻不對他們判處最低刑期。 Exclusive: Trump finalizing opioid plan that includes death penalty for dealers The Trump administration is finalizing a long-awaited plan that it says will solve the opioid crisis, but it also calls for law enforcement measures — like the death penalty for some drug dealers — that public health advocates and congressional Republicans warn will detract from efforts to reverse the epidemic. The ambitious plan, which the White House has quietly been circulating among political appointees this month, could be announced as soon as Monday when President Donald Trump visits New Hampshire, a state hard hit by the epidemic. It includes a mix of prevention and treatment measures that advocates have long endorsed, as well as beefed-up enforcement in line with the president’s frequent calls for a harsh crackdown on drug traffickers and dealers. Trump’s plan to use the death penalty in some cases found at least one fan among congressional Republicans: Rep. Chris Collins of New York, one of the president’s most consistent cheerleaders. “I’m all in on the capital punishment side for those offenses that would warrant that,” he said when asked about the plans Thursday afternoon. “Including drug cases. Yep.” But several congressional Democrats said they were alarmed by Trump's plan to ramp up punishment. “We are still paying the costs for one failed 'war on drugs,' and now President Trump is drawing up battle plans for another," said Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts. "We will not incarcerate or execute our way out of the opioid epidemic." The White House's most concrete proposal yet to address opioids comes after complaints from state health officials and advocates that Trump has moved too slowly to combat the epidemic after his bold campaign promises to wipe out the crisis touching all parts of the country. However, the plan could cost billions of dollars more than Trump budgeted — and likely far more than any funding package that Congress would approve — raising questions about how much of it can actually be put into practice. Trump's emphatic embrace of the death penalty for some drug dealers has also alarmed some advocates, who say the idea has been ineffective when tried in other countries and resurrects the nation’s unsuccessful war on drugs. Under the most recent version of the plan, which has gone through several revisions, the Trump administration proposes to change how the government pays for opioid prescriptions to limit access to powerful painkillers. It also calls on Congress to change how Medicaid pays for treatment, seeking to make it easier for patients with addictions to get inpatient care. It would also create a new Justice Department task force that more aggressively monitors internet sales. The administration claims its plan will reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third within three years and that the initiative will fulfill Trump's campaign promise to "stop opioid abuse." However, that will be a tall order. There were more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016, mostly involving opioids, according to the most recent federal mortality data. The CDC last week reported that emergency rooms recorded a 30 percent spike in opioid overdoses last summer, indicating that the devastating crisis is worsening. POLITICO obtained two versions of the White House plan and spoke with four individuals who have reviewed it. The White House confirmed that a plan was in development but didn’t respond to multiple requests for further comment. Many of the measures in the plan were recommended by the president’s opioids commission last fall or discussed at a March 1 White House opioid summit. For instance, it endorses a long-promised priority: greatly expanding first responders' access to naloxone, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. It also calls on states to adopt a prescription drug monitoring database that health care providerscan access nationwide to flag patients seeking out numerous opioid prescriptions. On the policing side, the plan would ramp up prosecution and punishment, underscoring the tension in how public health advocates and law enforcement officials approach the crisis. Public health advocates say the nation's opioid epidemic should be treated as a disease, with emphasis on boosting underfunded treatment and prevention programs. But some law enforcement officials back tougher punishments as a deterrent, especially for drug dealers. The two camps don’t always see eye-to-eye, at times pitting HHS and DOJ officials against each other. “There is a lot of internal dissension between the health folks and the enforcement folks,” said an official involved in the crafting of the plan. While Trump this month repeatedly suggested using the death penalty to deter drug dealers and traffickers — an idea roundly opposed by public health advocates — many lawmakers have said they weren’t sure whether to take the idea seriously. “I would have to strongly evaluate and look at any proposal like that,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on Wednesday. “I don’t know if the president was serious or just said it off the cuff. … It’s a big issue when you decide to bring a capital case or pass a law that allows for capital punishment.” According to language circulating this week, the Trump administration will call for the death penalty as an option in "certain cases where opioid, including Fentanyl-related, drug dealing and trafficking are directly responsible for death." Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), whose home state is one of the hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, said she doesn't support the death penalty for drug cases. “I mean, I get the message he’s delivering: We’ve got to treat it seriously,” she said. “I don’t see that that’s going to solve the problem.” The White House plan also calls for making it easier to invoke the mandatory minimum sentence for drug traffickers who knowingly distribute illegal opioids that can be lethal, like fentanyl. It also proposes a new Justice Department task force known as “Prescription Interdiction and Litigation,” or PIL, which would be empowered to step up prosecutions of criminally negligent doctors, pharmacies and other providers. The White House is also backing new health ideas, such as calling for 75 percent of opioid prescriptions reimbursed by government health programs like Medicare and Medicaid to be issued by using “best practices” within three years. That would be scaled up to 95 percent of prescriptions in five years. It also calls on Congress to formally repeal a rule barring Medicaid payment to residential treatment for opioid addiction at large facilities, which could cost tens of billions of dollars. The rule, implemented about 50 years ago, was meant to discourage mass institutionalization of people with mental illness, but states say it has been a barrier to addiction treatment. Some states under the Obama and Trump administrations have received federal permission to waive the rule for substance abuse treatment. The plan also includes measures favored by progressive drug policy reformers like changing the nation's prison system so all federal inmates would be screened for opioid use upon arrival and steered toward treatment at residential re-entry centers as necessary. It also calls for improving tracking systems to rapidly steer resources to areas struggling with the opioid epidemic. Trump could announce the plan, or aspects of it, on Monday, when he is scheduled to return to New Hampshire with HHS Secretary Alex Azar. It will be Trump's first trip to New Hampshire as president after numerous campaign trips to the state to highlight the opioid epidemic. Some administration officials hoped to announce the long-developing opioid plan — including the death penalty for drug dealers — at the March 1 opioid summit, but it wasn't ready in time. However, Trump still riffed that day about the need to use the death penalty to fight the opioid epidemic. "If you shoot one person, they give you life, they give you the death penalty," Trump said at the time. "These people can kill 2,000, 3,000 people and nothing happens to them." Brianna Ehley, Sarah Karlin-Smith and Adam Cancryn contributed to this report. |    HAN, Liu, CPA | 韩柳 President, Principal Loan Consultant, Leader Funding, Inc.  电话: (240) 784-6645 Rockville, MD Phone: 301-366-3497 |
