(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he’s ready to declareopioid addiction a national emergency, whichcould clear the way for extra funding and government authority toaddress a wave of overdose deaths.

Related: How brokers can play a pivotal role in theopioid epidemic

“We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lotof money on the opioid crisis,” Trump said Thursday as he addressedreporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “This is anational emergency and we are drawing documents now to soattest.”

Trump, who made the issue a key talking point during hiscampaign, previously received an interim report from a commissionhe appointed that called for declaration of a nationalemergency.

The action would give the administration additional funding andpowers, such as negotiating lower prices for overdose reversaldrugs, according to the draft.

More than 33,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2015, according to theNational Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA.

Most opioid overdose deaths are linked to prescription painpills, though use of heroin is growing rapidly, accounting foralmost 13,000 deaths in 2015, according to NIDA.

Trump also has called for tougher law enforcement, includinglocking up more drug dealers after what he said was a decline indrug-related prosecutions since 2011, and more aggressive policingat U.S. borders to stop the import of heroin and syntheticopioids.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Tuesday theadministration was coming up with a comprehensive strategy onopioids that would be presented to Trump in the future but thecrisis could be handled “without the declaration of a nationalemergency.”

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.