Washington • President Donald Trump plans to declare Thursday afternoon that the opioid crisis — which is killing more than 100 people each day — is a public health emergency. By doing so, the federal government will waive some regulations, give states more flexibility in how they use federal funds and expand the use of telemedicine treatment, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on Thursday morning.
But the president will stop short of another recommendation that his commission on the crisis recommended: Declare a more sweeping national state of emergency that would have given states access to funding from the federal Disaster Relief Fund, just as they would be following a tornado or hurricane.