The Atlantic

The Weakness of Trump's Plan to Fight Opioids

Instead of shaking up the status quo, the self-proclaimed outsider doubles down on an approach that has failed to stop drug abuse for more than six decades.
Source: Bryan Woolston / Reuters

When voters elected Donald Trump, they knew that he lacked governing experience. But many felt an outsider was needed to shake up a failed status quo. The calculation was especially understandable for folks hit hardest by the opioid epidemic. Under the status quo, they saw addiction and death ravaging their communities.

Why wouldn’t they favor radical change?

But President Trump hasn’t brought an outsider’s perspective to the

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