President Donald Trump vowed the U.S. would "win" the battle against the heroin and opioid crisis on Tuesday, but did not declare a national emergency as his hand-picked commission recommended, NBC News reported.
Instead, Trump promised to "protect innocent citizens from drug dealers that poison our communities."
Trump also did not announce a new policy in the fight against opioids despite his promise of a "major briefing" in a tweet Tuesday morning.
Last week, the presidential opioid commission, chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, urged Trump to "declare a national emergency" and noted that "America is enduring a death toll equal to Sept. 11 every three weeks."