Something extraordinary is happening in the American overdose crisis.

Recent federal data show that annual drug overdose deaths fell by 27 percent in 2024. This marks an unprecedented reversal after two decades of almost uninterrupted increases in overdose deaths.

Overdose deaths were initially driven by prescription opioids in the 1990s, began to shift toward heroin in the early 2010s and, since 2015, have been driven mostly by illicit fentanyl.

There’s still a long way to go in the overdose crisis. More than 80,000 people are still dying annually of overdose, roughly the number heading into the COVID-19 pandemic when the fentanyl crisis was already raging.

But the Trump administration now has an extraordinary opportunity to achieve a lasting public health victory.

To its credit, the administration has been vocal about the threat posed by fentanyl. Within hours of reentering the White House, Trump pushed fentanyl to the center of his trade disputes with China and Mexico. The administration was correct to press China to clamp down on trafficking in fentanyl precursors and pressuring Mexico to eradicate cartel-run clandestine labs.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi has

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