Embedded in the Trump administration’s Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again — amid a series of steep cuts to non-Defense programs — are two proposals for increased funding to fight the opioid epidemic. The first increase falls under the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency facing a proposed 17.9 percent funding decrease, one of the sharpest overall. Despite cuts to duplicative or limited impact programs in HHS, the blueprint specifically allocates a half a billion dollar funding increase to expand opioid misuse prevention efforts and increase access to treatment and recovery services. The opioid epidemic, which took more than 33,000 lives in calendar year 2015, the budget notes, has a devastating effect on America’s families and communities. Trump budget seeks to fight opioid addiction | Washington Examiner

Battling addiction can be a long, difficult process. Given the stigma that often comes with addiction, it’s not always an easy thing to discuss with friends and family, let alone the public. Sean Penn’s son, Hopper, is speaking out about a serious struggle, and credits his father for helping him work towards recovery. Sean Hopper Penn Drug Addiction Recovery Crystal Meth

A California legislator wants to tax Oxycontin, Vicodin and other prescription opioids.

In the last few years, Los Angeles County has led the state when it comes to opioid drug overdoses. California lawmaker Kevin McCarty announced a new bill that would create a 1 cent-per-milligram tax on prescription opioids to help offset the cost of rehab services. Public health officials said more than 2,000 people died of opioid overdoses in California during 2014. Painkiller tax proposed by California legislator to help pay for rehab services | abc7.com