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Sen. Schumer Calls On President's Opioid Commission For Plan To Battle Addiction

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer called on President Trump's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis to lay out a plan to save the lives of those battling addiction.

"I have never seen it worse and I have never seen it affect more portions of America," Schumer said Sunday about the sad amount of overdoses and overdose deaths due to the opioid epidemic.

Schumer said the president's opioid commission has been dragging its feet and has not come up with a plan to combat the problem.

"There are large numbers of deaths as you know, 1,374 in New York City in 2016," Schumer said. "937 in 2015. So it shows you how much it's gone up."

As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported, Schumer said Sunday this is not an urban, rural, or suburban problem -- it's a problem everywhere.

He said the commission has missed self-imposed deadlines.

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