President Trump spoke at a White House opioid crisis summit late this week, and seemingly suggested the best way to fix the U.S.' drug crisis would be to kill all of the country's drug dealers, New York Magazine reports.

The rising opioid epidemic is causing concern around the country; new reports of a deadly cocaine epidemic killing black and Latinx Americans is raising alarms as well.

Pressure is mounting on the executive branch to do something. It has been reported that Trump has called for the execution of drug dealers in private, NY Magazine states, but now he has publicly hinted at an "the ultimate penalty."

Speaking at the White House opioid summit, Trump said countries with the “ultimate penalty” have less of a drug problem than the US pic.twitter.com/npkFcjk4ah— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 1, 2018

“Some countries have a very, very tough penalty — the ultimate penalty,” said Trump. “And, by the way, they have much less of a problem.”

Trump may be referring to Singapore and the Philippines, both of which execute drug traffickers.

Controversial president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte's rise to power is due, in part, to his hardline stance on drugs; he said in the past that he gunned down some of his city's drug dealers personally.

Last year, President Trump praised President Duterte's tactics, telling the Philippines president, “I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem. Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

According to NPR, Trump's main focus on combating addiction has seen calls for law enforcement to chase drug dealers, rather than plans for treatment or prevention.

“If you shoot one person, you get life in prison,” Trump noted in his drug summit speech. “These people kill 1,000, 2,000 people and nothing happens to them.”

opioid crises summit

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