Trump promised to rein in drug prices. It was his only sensible campaign promise.
But the plan he announced Friday does little but add another battering ram to his ongoing economic war against America’s allies.
He calls it “American patients first,” and takes aim at what he calls “foreign freeloading.” The plan will pressure foreign countries to relax their drug price controls.
Since the begging of October, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been without an official secretary following the ouster of Tom Price, who resigned due to public outrage over his extensive and costly travel on private jets for government business and his personal use.
(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) — As he vows to put an end to the opioid epidemic by boosting law enforcement and upping spending on border security, President Donald Trump has, once again, done nothing but mimic his predecessors when it comes to drug policy. Like Barack Obama or George W. Bush before him, he believes government has the answer to the drug problem despite evidence proving the exact opposite.
President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget eliminates an independent agency that coordinates the efforts of several federal agencies which play a role in preventing and ending homelessness among other sweeping cuts. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON — The White House is following up its longshot roster of budget cuts with a wish list of $18 billion worth of immediate reductions, including cuts to medical research, infrastructure, and community development grants.
Many hoped that the Obama administration would reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule II substance this year, but no such luck. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also announced on August 11 that marijuana would remain illegal under federal law. Other Schedule I substances include heroin, LSD, peyote, ecstasy, quaaludes, and bath salts, among others. [1]
