NPR

The Biden team is scrambling to slow a crushing wave of drug overdose deaths

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is rolling out a new plan to slow drug deaths, which he says will include controversial measures such as clean needles and fentanyl test strips.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said the overdose epidemic has grown so severe, new measures are needed to keep people with addiction alive. He is seen here on Capitol Hill in September.

The Biden administration is rolling out a new coordinated strategy it hopes will slow the menacing rise in drug overdose deaths.

According to the latest preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 100,000 people in the U.S. died from overdoses over a 12-month period, a massive surge from a year earlier.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said

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