Every day, 115 people die due to opioid related deaths. Characterized by overdoses or unnecessary acquisitions of medical and illicit opioids, the opioid epidemic, also known as the opioid crisis, has increased death rates rapidly since the 1990's. Reported by the CDC, in 1999 opioids killed 17,000 people. However, opioid death rates were five times higher in 2016. The crisis is not only taking innocent lives every day, but it is also affecting the quality of life for addicts and their families. While President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis to be a "public health emergency" the government takes minimal national efforts to solve this crisis. The government must act fast to make regulations and take on proactive actions to fix the detrimental epidemic. Many lives are on the line.