Trevor Noah applauds what Trump promised to do on the opioid crisis, explains what he actually did

Trevor Noah explains where Trump fell short on opioids

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Daily Show)

last updated 27 October 2017

America has a serious opioid problem, and it began with doctors freely prescribing pain medicine that drugmakers swore wasn't addictive but actually was, Trevor Noah said on Thursday's Daily Show. He noted the case of tiny Kermit, West Virginia, where drug distributors shipped a huge amount of oxycodone. "Nine million pills for 400 people?" he marveled. "Even if one of those people is Charlie Sheen, that still leaves 8 million pills unaccounted for." In response, the pharmaceutical industry bought the right to write a law shutting down a DEA enforcement mechanism to stop such suspect shipments.

"So the opioid crisis is huge and the pharmaceutical industry isn't really interested in helping," Noah said. "But fortunately my friends, as we saw in August, there's one man who gets it." President Trump promised 10 weeks ago he'd declare the opioid crisis a national emergency, which could have been a big step, and on Thursday, "Trump finally came through — give him a round of applause, don't be haters," Noah told his audience. "He declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency — which I just realized is not a thing."

It may seems like an insignificant word change, but there's a major difference between a national emergency and a public heath emergency, Noah explained — the former, which Trump promised to sign, has access to $23 billion, while the latter gives opioid crisis fighters access to a fund with $57,000. "That's a huge difference," he said. "Put it this way: If you had to go to rehab, who would you want funding it, the CEO of Verizon, or Craig who works at Verizon?" He sighed. "This isn't even one of those days where I'm angry at Trump, I'm just disappointed," Noah said, offering a darkly hilarious comparison between what he promised and what he delivered. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.