Trump budget would effectively kill drug control office, Dan Diamond, Politico: “President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget would cut about 95 percent of funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, effectively ending its mission as the lead agency in charge of combating the opioid crisis and other drug epidemics, according to an internal office email and two sources who spoke with POLITICO. The office, which received $388 million in federal funding in fiscal 2017, would only receive $24 million in fiscal 2018, according to the White House budget proposal. The agency’s high-intensity drug-trafficking program, which received $254 million in federal funding in 2017, and its drug-free communities support program, which received $100 million, would be completely zeroed out under Trump’s proposal. The budget also seeks to cut almost $7 million in salaries, leading to projected cuts of as many as 33 full-time equivalents. About 70 people currently work at the drug control office. ‘These drastic proposed cuts are frankly heartbreaking and, if carried out, would cause us to lose many good people who contribute greatly to ONDCP’s mission and core activities,’ acting Director Rich Baum wrote in an internal email to staff that was shared with POLITICO.”