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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Saturday, November 09, 2024
Anne Hazlett, who oversees Rural Development at USDA, wants to get the word out that RD’s new Innovation Center will soon be open for business, with a new executive at the helm and a long list of challenges to face, including the opioid epidemic that’s been devastating rural communities.
Rural America’s population “is shrinking for the first time on record,” USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) says in a report, with increased drug-related mortality among working-age adults contributing to the decline.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2017 – An expanded federal drug-court system, better access to alternatives to opioids for people in pain, and educational requirements for drug prescribers are just a few of the dozens of recommendations from the commission set up by President Trump to combat the opioid crisis.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2017 – President Donald Trump today said he’s ordering the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) to declare the opioid epidemic a national “public health emergency” but he failed to earmark any new money to deal with the crisis.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2017 - Senate Democrats pushed Agriculture Department officials Thursday to support increased funding to boost rural economic development and fight the opioid crisis. USDA officials also were urged to work within the administration to expand rural broadband access.
