Article snippet: More than four months after declaring a public health emergency over the Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at a White House summit Thursday where he suggested the U.S. should tackle the epidemic by instituting “the ultimate punishment” for drug dealers. “You know, if you shoot one person, they give you life, they give you the death penalty," Trump said. "These people can kill 2,000, 3,000 people and nothing happens to them. Some countries have a very, very tough penalty -- the ultimate penalty. And, by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do.” The president’s comments were a significant departure from the discussions at the summit prior to his arrival, which had focused largely on expanding access treatment and eliminating the “stigma” around opioid addiction. But the moment illustrated a broader criticism of President Trump’s approach to a drug crisis that is estimated to have killed 64,000 Americans in 2016, as Congress and activists have looked to intensify pressure on the administration to take more significant action to tackle what they see as a multi-front war. In conversations with nearly a dozen lawmakers, former members of the president’s opioid commission and others who have interacted directly with the White House’s efforts, there remains a wide consensus that, despite recent significant gains, there are continued concerns that the administration is still not yet addressing the epidemic with the urgency it demands. ... Link to the full article to read more