First Lady Melania Trump took time out to promote her “Be Best” campaign and lauded the Trump administration’s efforts to fight the opioid crisis when she accepted an award Wednesday from a Christian college in Florida, The Washington Examiner reports.
Standing before 550 attendees at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s “Women of Distinction” luncheon, she said the anti-cyber-bullying and anti-drug abuse program “has been a shining light on programs across the country and overseas that help our youth understand what it means to ‘Be Best.”
“Be best can mean performing a simple act of kindness, providing care for someone in need, or teaching a life-enriching lesson,” she said, adding “it is my hope that by promoting Be Best values, we will give a voice to the concerns and struggles of our children, and help them overcome the challenges they face.”
The First Lady added that the number of opioid-related deaths has dropped for the first time in three decades, and credited programs adopted by her husband.
“Opioids have affected the lives of more than two million children in the United States,” Trump said, adding that this also included children of addicts. “I’ve seen firsthand how opioid abuse who struggling [sic] with addiction. I have traveled to children’s hospitals and treatment facilities who support those affected by opioids.”
Data from the CDC shows that opioid deaths have dropped by about 4.6 percent during a 12-month period in 2017 and 2018. But one particular opioid tells another story. Deaths from illicitly-produced Fentanyl jumped to 11 percent during that time period, Healio Primary Care reports.
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