A welcomed federal funding boost announced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., will help in fighting the rising heroin epidemic in the Mountain State while advancing necessary drug prevention initiatives for the region.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is allocating the $2.5 million to the Heroin Response Strategy, a new partnership among five regional High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area programs serving West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. The Appalachia HIDTA, which serves communities in West Virginia, including Mercer and McDowell counties, will also receive an additional $400,000 for a range of drug use prevention initiatives.
There are currently 18 West Virginia counties that are designated as HIDTAs. They are Mercer, McDowell, Boone, Berkeley, Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Harrison, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mingo, Ohio, Putnam, Raleigh, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
According to the three lawmakers, the Heroin Response Strategy will foster a collaborative network of public health-public safety partnerships to address the heroin/opioid epidemic from multiple perspectives. This includes enhancing the efficiency of the criminal intelligence process in support of cooperative law enforcement operations and the creation of a 15-state network of experienced, connected law enforcement contacts.
“The health and safety of our families and communities in West Virginia depend on ending the drug abuse epidemic,” Manchin said. “Not only must we continue to combat the prescription drug problem, but we also must face the growing number of heroin overdoses and drug trafficking cases. This program will foster an important partnership between 15 states that are being devastated by the rising heroin epidemic, and it will tackle the problem from every angle.”
“This funding is an encouraging step in the right direction and will help the West Virginia families that have been devastated by drug addiction and the growing abuse of heroin,” Capito added. “The Heroin Response Strategy — the first program of its kind in our region — will give local law enforcement and health officials the ability to work together across state and local lines to curb trafficking and improve treatment and prevention.”
“HIDTA serves a vital role in our communities, bringing federal, state, and local law enforcement together to combat the drug epidemic and stop the flow of drugs into West Virginia,” Jenkins added. “This additional funding will expand HIDTA’s reach, prevent even more West Virginians from using illegal drugs, and stop the spread of drugs in our communities, in trafficking and overdoses and to help reduce drug abuse.”
We are glad to see that additional federal funding is being earmarked to assist the important efforts of the Appalachian HIDTA. It is imperative that all efforts be made on the federal, state and local level to combat the drug epidemic in our region, along with emerging new threats such as heroin trafficking.