The Coalition of Addiction Experts said a letter to Congress if the U.S. signed a letter to the Congress later Monday warning of “terrible consequences” and if the U.S. cut plans to help communities relate to the epidemic of overdose, it will sign a letter to Congress.

"(w)e ​​cuts a significant cut to key institutions," the letter said, noting that proposals in the 2026 budget in the White House budget will cut billions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and other programs.

The letter to Democratic and Republican leaders noted that fatal overdoses in 2024 fell by about 26% compared to the previous year, according to the latest federal data from the CDC. This is the biggest drop in deaths in a year since the opioid crisis that began in the 1990s.

"The decrease in excess deaths we witnessed in 2024 is the result of sustained and increased financial investments," the letter reads. "Now is not the time to reduce these investments."

The efforts to lobby lawmakers were organized in part by lawyer Chad Sabora, an addictive activist attorney and a former drug addict in St. Louis, who helped spread the letter. He said the addiction community was terrified of the scale of the White House’s proposed spending cuts.

"This will basically explode the current structure and see addiction as a public health issue," Sabora said. "It will turn around something that works."

President Trump has campaigned to some extent to “end” the promise of the fentanyl crisis, which has exacerbated a fatal surge in excess over the past decade. NPR asked White House officials to comment on how the proposed spending cuts affect fentanyl and drug overdose in the country. They did not respond.

According to the latest available preliminary CDC data for November 2024, drug overdose deaths still account for every 12,000 deaths in the U.S. every 12 months.

The drug mortality rate remains well above other countries, but the peak of about 114,664 deaths fell by about 114,664 in the 12 months recorded in August 2023.

Experts warn that a handful of serious blows could be hit if lawmakers follow the proposed budget by the Trump administration and in rural areas, addiction recovery plans could be particularly difficult. Also worried about research work tracking New synthetic street drugs for sale in U.S. communities can also be granted. "It will make everything basically a game of guesswork," Saborah said.

This is because drug policy experts, hospitals and recovery clinics are also providing possible cuts to Medicaid funds. Medicaid expanded rapidly under the Affordable Care Act and now provides most of the coverage in the U.S. for those seeking addiction care.

"It's been a terrible time. We're scared of the possibility that could happen if Medicaid was significantly reduced," said Dr. Stephen Taylor of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. "Our hope is to convince policy makers and people with control, rather than make changes that we know will destroy the people we care for."

The Democratic lawmakers issued a preliminary estimate by the Office of Congressional Budget released Sunday, finding that Medicaid cuts proposed by House Republicans will reduce the number of low-income Americans covered by health insurance, "at least 8.6 million by 2034." It is unclear how many affected people are being cared for by addiction.