WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former nominee to be the nation’s drug czar is defending his role in writing a law that critics say weakened the government’s authority to stop companies from distributing opioids.

Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., said he’s proud of his work on the 2016 law, which passed without opposition in the House and Senate and was signed by President Barack Obama.

In a statement released by his office, Marino said the law will help “facilitate a balanced solution” by ensuring access to certain medications while allowing the Drug Enforcement Administration to prevent the sale and abuse of prescription drugs.

The former prosecutor withdrew Tuesday as Trump’s nominee to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy following reports by The Washington Post and CBS News about the law. Critics say the measure has undermined efforts to restrict the flow of pain pills that have led to tens of thousands of deaths.

Marino disputed that, saying he wanted to “insist on correcting the record regarding the false accusations and unfair reporting to which I have been subjected.”

The Post reported Sunday that for years, some drug distributors were fined for repeatedly ignoring DEA warnings to shut down suspicious sales of hundreds of millions of pills, while the companies racked up billions of dollars in sales.

The new law makes it virtually impossible for the DEA to freeze suspicious narcotic shipments from the companies, according to the report. It cited internal DEA and Justice Department documents and an independent assessment by the DEA’s chief administrative law judge.

Trump is under growing pressure to fulfill his pledge to declare the opioid epidemic a “national emergency,” as a commission he’s convened on the subject has urged him to do.

Democrats hailed Marino’s withdrawal.

“We need a drug czar who has seen these devastating effects and who is passionate about ending this opioid epidemic,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., whose state has been ravaged by the drug crisis.