White House's opioid task force adopts some Mass. strategies
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Gov. Charlie Baker said the recommendations in a report from President Donald Trump's opioid commission could be effective if acted upon.
Gov. Charlie Baker's participation on President Donald Trump's opioid crisis commission has been a flash point at home, but the popular Republican governor called the final recommendations produced by the group on Wednesday a "strong set" of goals built on successes in state like Massachusetts.
The President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, a bipartisan group led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Cristie and including former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, unanimously approved a final report on Wednesday.
Baker has been shutting back and forth to Washington to participate in the commission, but phoned in to the final meeting from California where he is on vacation for several days with his wife.
"This report contains an extensive list of recommendations, including federal funding increases, prevention education for schools, increased access to treatment and stricter drug enforcement policies, that can start making a difference in every state if acted upon by the White House and Congress," Baker said in a statement.
He said, "The opioid and heroin epidemic knows no boundaries and is tragically claiming the lives of our loved ones every day, and our administration urges Washington to act quickly on our bipartisan recommendations, many of which have already yielded positive results at the state level, to break the cycle of addiction."
Some of the recommendations, according to Baker, include a revamp of the federal prescription monitoring program to reduce opioid prescription and developing core curriculum for medical students in pain management and addiction prevention. Both strategies have been pursued in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party has called on Baker to quit Trump's opioid commission because it doubts the president's commitment to providing resources to fight the epidemic, but just Tuesday Democrat for governor Setti Warren said if the governor can help shape federal policy and secure funding for Massachusetts he should stay involved.
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