The Trump administration’s cuts to federal addiction programs are striking a blow to the U.S. economy, not just public health, according to a report released Wednesday by the Addiction Science Defense Network. Alcohol and substance abuse drain over $740 billion a year in the U.S. alone.
Since January 2025, nearly two-thirds of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration staff have been eliminated, and over $588 million in addiction-related research grants were canceled at the National Institutes of Health, according to the report. The NIH has been the largest global source of funding for addiction science over the past 50 years.
“The administration has reset national priorities in ways that have dramatically weakened the systems used to track, understand, and respond to endemic psychoactive substance abuse,” the report says. “The precipitous changes … threaten the viability of a network that has proven to be a cost-effective response to one of the most serious health problems facing American society.”
Trump wants drugs out of the country, so he’s cracking down on immigration. Then why cut addiction programs?
The Trump administration has advocated for a “drug-free” America and launched a National Drug Control Strategy plan earlier this week. The strategy claims it will focus on efforts to ensure “treatment for addiction to all types of drugs” and increase “the number of state and local recovery-ready workplace programs.” But it’s mostly focused on “enhanc[ing] border security” and fighting “foreign terrorist threats.”
