President Trump, first lady to speak on opioids at summit in Atlanta; protests planned
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President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to be in Atlanta on Wednesday to continue their efforts to combat the nation's opioid crisis. Both are set to headline the 2019 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit.
The Trump administration has declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency and spending billions of dollars to ramp up the efforts to stop it.
HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN AGAINST RAPIDLY TAPERING DOWN OPIOIDS FOR PAIN PATIENTS: ‘IT’S A GAME-CHANGER’
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About 130 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose, Atlanta's FOX 5 reported, citing data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 70 percent of the 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017 also involved an opioid, the data show.
The first lady also made the fight against opioids a top priority in her national campaign to help children be their best.
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But while Trump is coming with a hopeful message, some activists appear to be gearing up to protest his brief visit, possibly disrupting public transit and causing other inconveniences for the city’s residents.
Last year, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway addressed the four-day summit that attracts medical professionals, public health and elected officials, and others.
Trump doesn’t appear to have any other events scheduled during the visit, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
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Trump won Georgia by 5 percentage points in 2016, but Democrats see the state as in play this election cycle and believe they can turn the state blue for the first time since 1992.