Major swaths of our country are living through an unprecedented epidemic of deadly drug abuse. An estimated 2.1 million Americans abuse or are addicted to opioids — a class of highly addictive drugs that includes Percocet, Vicodin, OxyContin, and heroin. More than 33,000 died because of such abuse in 2015, and the rate is only rising, with annual fatalities having quadrupled since this century began. But because this epidemic has not hit the major cities where our politics and culture are centered, the public and political response has been shockingly slow and halting. Now that our leaders increasingly do see this massive crisis at last, how can they best help to address it?