Summary: In early August, President Donald Trump vowed to formally dub the U.S. opioid crisis a “national emergency.” But nearly a month later, the president has yet to officially declare a state of emergency — a move that would enable the federal government to pump funds into addressing the drug epidemic. Two women on the front lines of the opioid fight — June Sivilli, the chief of the public health division in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and Dr. Cece McNamara Spitznas, ONDCP’s senior science policy adviser – try to explain why Trump still hasn’t made that formal declaration. Women Rule spoke to Sivilli and Spitznas about the administration's drug control priorities and how the opioid crisis has uniquely affected women.
