New White House drug abuse strategy floats wastewater testing, AI, more treatment

Exclusive Politics New White House drug abuse strategy floats wastewater testing, AI, more treatment and faith-based options By Jennifer Jacobs, Jennifer Jacobs Senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News. Read Full Bio Jennifer Jacobs, Kerry Breen Kerry Breen News Editor Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use. Read Full Bio Kerry Breen Updated on: April 30, 2026 / 10:24 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The Trump administration is proposing wastewater testing on a national level to try to ferret out data on illegal drug use in real time, according to a draft of a new drug control strategy obtained by CBS News. The administration also aims to apply artificial intelligence technologies to screen cargo for illicit drugs at ports of entry, examine electronic health records to "identify patients at high risk of overdose" and create search algorithms to detect emerging threats, the plan says. The White House intends to release the 195-page document next week, sources familiar with the matter said. A budget for the strategy was not immediately available.  The report comes as U.S. overdose deaths are on the decline after peaking in mid-2023, though they remain well above pre-opioid crisis levels, with over 68,000 deaths reported nationwide in the 12-month period ending in November, according to federal data. But the number of Americans who reported using illicit drugs in the past year ticked up in 2024, mostly due to more marijuana use. And the report describes a landscape of new threats, including fentanyl-laced drugs and newer synthetic drugs. Marketers of addictive substances, including nicotine, alcohol, marijuana and psychedelics, have adopted "strategies similar to Big Tobacco's historical targeting of young audiences," the document says. The report says marijuana products of unprecedented high potency are often "aggressively advertised, and often packaged to appeal to minors." It also accuses pop culture of normalizing drug use and says "American society has become increasingly permissive of illicit drug use" in films, music and public use.  The Trump administration will pursue novel surveillance methods to better measure drug use trends, including wastewater testing and biologic specimen testing, the strategy says. "We will also prioritize establishing new data systems to monitor drug consumption in real-time, through a national wastewater-based monitoring system and biosurveillance. These objective measures will provide timely, localized data on current drug use and trafficking patterns," it says.  The use of religious faith in treating drug addiction is central in the strategy.  "Secular education and treatment are important, but for those who have faith, adding God into the equation brings in a special power," the report says. "Faith leaders are encouraged to use their influence and pulpit to promote the social norm of not using drugs and bringing hope and support to those who have the treatable condition of addiction."  It also calls for more treatment accessibility for Americans, stating that it "should be easier to access treatment than it is to buy illicit drugs."  The strategy says addiction care should be integrated with other types of medical care, and that such treatment should be "individualized and comprehensive."  The plan includes support for medication-based treatment for opioid use disorder, and calls for research into possible similar treatments for methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.  To prevent fatalities, it says the overdose-reversing medication naloxone "must be as common as having epinephrine to treat an allergic reaction."  Fentanyl test strips can be an "important tool" that can detect contaminated drugs, it says.  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency, however, recently released a letter stating that test strips cannot be purchased with federal grants.  President Trump has shown support for increasing research into some illicit substances, and recently signed an executive order to make it easier for scientists to study some psychedelics for possible mental health treatments.  Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced it was ordering the rescheduling of certain marijuana products to a lower drug classification, while moving to expedite the process to reclassify marijuana more broadly. The document stresses law enforcement's role in stopping the distribution of illicit drugs, and reflects the Trump administration's crackdown on foreign drug suppliers — such as denoting some cartels as foreign terror organizations and carrying out deadly strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.  Dr. Céline Gounder contributed to this report. More from CBS News Buying a computer? AI is making it more expensive.