Story highlights Both President Donald Trump and the first lady have called attention to this issue

The presidential commission on opioids has turned over recommendations to Trump

(CNN) Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a member of the President's commission on opioid addiction, has a message for the Trump administration a day before it is expected to declare a national emergency on the epidemic: "We want medicine, not media."

When asked about first lady Melania Trump's recent focus on the issue and the expectation she will continue to be part of the public effort, Kennedy didn't mince words.

"We don't want any more photo-ops," the former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island said in a phone interview with CNN on Wednesday. "I'm just speaking as an advocate, in this fight every single day as someone who is in recovery and someone who is an advocate. We don't want any more visits to rehab centers and photo-ops, saying how courageous we are. Enough already. We want to save lives."

President Donald Trump said last week that he would officially make a national emergency declaration to fight the opioid epidemic this week

Kennedy said the commission turned over its recommendations to the Trump administration, with a range of options on policies, many of which have already been publicly released. "They are hopefully working off from that, but we'll have to see as to how much of what we put forward is being immediately adopted and then we'll see how much with what we put forward Congress is going to also act upon."

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