CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: The U.S. government is creating a task force specifically focused on tackling the nation's opioid crisis. That and how the crisis is affecting America's workforce is our first subject today on CNN 10.

JEFF SESSIONS, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our nation is facing the deadliest drug epidemic in our history.

AZUZ: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the government is committed to reducing the amount of prescription opioids that are in the U.S., reducing the number of addictions and reducing the number of overdose deaths that drugs can cause. The Trump administration says in 2016, an estimated 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, the highest number ever recorded, and that preliminary information suggests that 2017 was even worse. It says overdoses of opioids, which include prescription painkillers, heroin and synthetic drugs, made up the vast majority of drug deaths.

Critics have said that through this January, the Trump administration hadn't committed enough funding to make a noticeable difference in the opioid epidemic.

The White House says its $6 billion increase for the fight against opioids which President Donald Trump signed earlier this month was the most the government had ever committed to the cause.