During President Trump’s first year in office, the United States reduced drug overdose deaths by over 13,000, compared to the previous 12 months. That is more than a statistic: it is thousands of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors who are alive today because of the decisive actions taken under his leadership. Now, drug overdose deaths are lower than at any point under the Biden administration and nearly 40,000 lower than the previous Administration’s peak of almost 108,000.
This result is historic, but it is not enough. We must continue fighting every day to save lives from the chemical war being waged on the American people by cartel terrorists.
This week, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will continue our work to save lives with the release of President Trump’s 2026 National Drug Control Strategy. Through the implementation of the President’s Strategy, the United States will continue to build on our historic efforts to eradicate the supply of illegal drugs while bringing hope and healing to millions of Americans.
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We will continue to attack the supply of drugs at every stage. By engaging with international partners, we are leaving narcoterrorist cartels with nowhere to hide through improved intelligence sharing and law enforcement cooperation. Simultaneously, we are strangling their supply lines through improved interdiction and enhanced supply chain security.
Domestically, with our southwest border now the most secure it has ever been, we are taking drugs off the street faster than the cartels can smuggle them in. ONDCP’s successful High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program will remain instrumental in this effort as they continue to coordinate federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement counter-drug activities, now further enhanced through their cooperation with Homeland Security Task Forces.
Even as we continue to dismantle cartel operations at home and abroad, we are attacking the demand for drugs with the same ferocity. Under President Trump, our nation will no longer enable illegal drug use through misguided and ineffective harm reduction programs. Instead, we are introducing a new primary prevention framework to protect our nation’s children and reinforce the truth that a drug-free life is the social norm.
For those already suffering from addiction, our goal is to make treatment easier to access than continued drug use. Under the Strategy, we are treating drug addiction the same way we treat infectious disease by improving early detection and facilitating treatment in addiction’s earliest phases. A doctor who sees cancer would not wait for it to metastasize. We are taking the same approach to treating addiction.
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Finally, for the first time ever, the Strategy recognizes the healing power of faith. Faith has proven profoundly effective for so many recovering from drug addiction. Considering 83% of Americans believe in God or universal spirit, embracing the power of faith has the potential to help millions of Americans achieve recovery.
The Strategy marks the most ambitious approach to defeating the drug crisis in our nation’s history. Under President Trump, the whole of the federal government is united and doing everything in its power to build a brighter, drug-free future.
But this is not a challenge the federal government can overcome alone. It is a challenge for the indomitable spirit of the American people in which everyone must do their part to realize this vision.
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This is not a Republican crisis nor a Democrat crisis, but an American crisis. Nearly every community in our nation has been harmed by illegal drugs. Whether a loved one dies of an overdose or drug-related violence, that community — and our entire nation — feels the heartbreak of that loss. I ask that you remember them and honor their memory through action.
Talk to your children about the dangers of drug use. Encourage a loved one struggling with addiction to seek treatment before it is too late. Volunteer your time with one of the many excellent prevention and treatment programs throughout our nation.
These acts may seem small, but together, they will save the lives of loved ones and countless Americans. Through the Strategy, every act is empowered by supporting action from the federal government, making it possible to finally set drug overdose deaths on a sustained downward trend.
That is how we win. Through every seizure, every recovery and every prevention, we will reduce drug overdose deaths year after year until the drug crisis is defeated for good.
President Trump is building the drug-free future America deserves, and we want you to be a part of it.
