More than a month into President Biden’s administration, concern is growing that he is not moving quickly enough to launch a major initiative to combat the opioid epidemic and address the national crisis of drug addiction. Although critics understand that he is focused on COVID-19 and other priorities, they believe the time is slipping away for him to take action—and that the longer the president waits, the more difficult it may be launch a more aggressive strategy. As a result, addiction could end up being the major issue that gets left behind, at a time when overdose deaths are worse than ever: more than 86,000 fatalities were reported for the 12-month period ending in July—the highest ever recorded in a one year period—and could rise to over 100,000 for all of 2020. During the campaign, Biden promised a $125 billion program over the next decade to confront the opioid crisis by expanding treatment, education, prevention and professional training for addiction personnel.

Reforms currently on the table include billions of new dollars for recovery services, deregulation of addiction treatment medications, making permanent many of the 2020’s emergency teleheatlh allowances, and scaling up harm-reduction programs such as needle exchanges. Without a White House plan, however, lawmakers are considering piecemeal legislation to accomplish those goals, which may not be as large or effective as a comprehensive approach. Now is the time for President Biden to lead on this issue, and to include the drug crisis as a national priority.