WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) says she supports the federal funding announcement made this week by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to benefit West Virginia’s rising heroin problem.
ONDCP Director Michael Botticelli said $13.4 million will go toward High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas across the United States. Advance drug prevention initiatives will receive $2.5 million in funding in the Appalachia region as well as New England, Philadelphia/Camden, New York/New Jersey and Washington/Baltimore.
Capito said Botticelli is really focusing on hot spot areas for heroin addiction, which includes the Eastern Panhandle, Huntington and other pockets around the state.
“These high intensity drug task force collaboration efforts – they’ve decided to put more money into Appalachia, which will really help us, I think, to focus to help our local responders work with the health officials, work with the state and federal officials to really plant down on this,” said Capito on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
According to a news release, the Appalachia HIDTA, which includes West Virginia, will also receive nearly $400,000 to advance a range of drug use prevention initiatives in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.
Capito, who has been a strong voice for the HIDTA program funding in the Senate Appropriations Committee, said there’s still a drug treatment issue facing West Virginia.
“We know that we don’t have enough treatment facilities in spots for people. You got to treat the addiction at the same time. You can’t just go at it from law enforcement or you end up with what we have right now, which are cluttered jails with no real long-term fixes,” she said.
Capito said Wednesday she fully supports the needle exchange program that will be introduced in Huntington on Oct. 1.
The first-of-its-kind pilot project in West Virginia will involve education and treatment resources along with efforts to stop the spread of infectious diseases through needle exchanges by giving addicts points of contact within the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.
“You’re going to a health official to exchange needles, so somebody’s going to be having a contact and be aware that this is an issue for you as an individual. Hopefully from a public health stand point, we’ll see some good results from this,” she said. “Maybe (it) will help with the addiction issue as well.”
Using an “all hands on deck” approach will help benefit the city as well as other areas of the state, she said.
“I think a limited and targeted needle exchange program is something I very much support.”
The release stated Capito is also pursuing solutions through legislation about drug abuse. In February, Senator Capito introduced the Stop Drugs at the Border Act of 2015 with Senator Donnelly (D-Ind.) to combat increased heroin and methamphetamine trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico Border. She is also a co-sponsor of The FDA Accountability for Public Safety Act, The Opioid Overdose Reduction Act of 2015 and The Protecting our Infants Act.