The Trump Administration has proposed cutting a $56 million dollar grant awarded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that funds Narcan distribution to first responders and provides Narcan administration training.

Naloxone (Narcan), is an opioid antagonist that reverses the life-threatening effects of opioid overdose. Furthermore, no harm is caused even if administered when an opioid overdose is not present.

According to the CDC, “Between 1999 and 2020, 565,000 Americans died of opioid-involved overdoses.” However, Narcan can prevent additional opioid overdose deaths.

Cutting funding will reduce first responder access Narcan, and will result in increased opioid overdose deaths.

Additional SAMHSA cuts defund harm reduction programs that provide sterile syringes and drug testing kits. Providing drug users with sterile syringes prevents the spread of diseases that may arise from reusing needles, such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. Likewise, drug testing kits reduce overdose deaths that occur from counterfeit and laced substances.

The Trump Administration calls these harm reduction practices “dangerous activities” and seeks to “reduce[s] waste by eliminating inefficient funding.”

Narcan has the potential to save lives, but cuts proposed by the Trump Administration will kill. 

Proposed Budget for the 2026 FY: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf 

UPDATE: The proposed cuts took place early January 2026, and eliminated nearly $2 billion dollars in SAMHSA funding. But less than 24 hours later, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reinstated funding in light of nationwide backlash.

Budget cuts may have been quickly reversed, but the future of Narcan grants remains in jeopardy as the Trump Administration plans to dissolve SAMHSA into a new organization, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).