The forum, "An Evolving Crisis: Combating the Next Wave of Addiction", took place during the annual summer gathering of US governors. The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) said the US is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, and the fight against the crisis has been a consistent topic during several NGA meetings in recent years. On Oct 26, 2017, US President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law. The CDC reported that opioids, including prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl, killed more than 42,000 people in 2016, more than any year on record. Forty percent of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.