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News 5 Investigator Ron Regan at White House as President signs landmark opioid bill

Posted at 9:57 AM, Oct 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-24 18:21:42-04

President Trump signed landmark legislation to help stop the opioid crisis.

"We are going to end it or make an extremely big dent", said President Trump.

The $6 billion package of bills, authored in part by Ohio Senator Rob Portman, creates programs and policies to curb the epidemic that killed more than 70,000 Americans last year.

Read President Trump's Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse here.

5,000 of those deaths were Ohioans.

“We have to stop the overprescribing by doctors,” said Trump.

5 On Your Side Chief Investigator Ron Regan attended the East Room of the White House bill signing Wednesday. The invitation to cover the event comes just days before a months-long investigation by the 5 On Your Side Investigative team will report on critical failures by state regulators that allowed the crisis to spread.

“Today’s bill signing is a major victory for Ohio and for the country and marks a significant step forward in our efforts to turn the tide of addiction,” said Portman who was praised at the event for fighting to reduce the supply of deadly drugs like fentanyl.

The sweeping opioid legislation is a major victory for President Trump who declared opioids “a national emergency “ one year ago.