Monday President Donald Trump rolled out what he calls a “get tough" policy to combat the nation's opioid epidemic.
The plan includes harsh penalties for drug dealers, including the death penalty.
FOX 47's Cryss Walker spoke with those on the front lines and those who've been victims of the opioid epidemic to find out what they think of the president's approach.
Aaron Emerson is recovering from his opioid addiction that started 10 years ago.
“In desperation I started to do heroin”, said Emerson.
“So I've experienced the prescription medication part of opiates and also heroin."
The 26-year-old says his addiction should not be viewed as a moral blemish but more like a disease.
A disease the father of one says took the lives of many people.
“Stuff like Fentanyl…it's really heightened the epidemic”, said Emerson.
“A lot of friends that have died from overdoses and I recently just lost one of my very best friends that I ever had from an overdose.”
Ingham County officials say emergency crews are responding to overdose calls every day and saving many lives with Narcan.
“More than one a week, over dose deaths in Ingham County”, said Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail.
“We see far more overdoses than that. Overdoses, you know, probably more than one a day."
Vails says the epidemic can't be arrested away and she doesn't believe the death penalty for drug trafficking offenders is the answer.
“We've launched a war on drugs in this country before, as a matter of a fact, more than once before, never did it turn out well”, said Vail.
Emerson says the problem is more complex than many people understand.
“If one drug dealer was taken out the picture, I just would of went and found another one”, Emerson explained.
Many people now wonder if the potential death penalty is a solution, or just another problem.
“I'd rather see you know millions of dollars spent on treatment and other kinds of strategies”, said Vail.
“I would like to see some of them get punished, but taking their life, that's a whole another story”, Emerson continued.
Along with stricter drug sentences, another part of President Trump's plan is to focus on drug prevention solutions.
That includes a new ad campaign about the dangers of opioids and a program to develop non-opioid alternatives to pain management.
