CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A recent instance of a driver under the influence of drugs crashing into a Huntington playground has prompted state Senator Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, to raise questions about the effectiveness of the state Office of Drug Control Policy.
Woelfel distributed a statement today asking whether the state Department of Health and Human Resources is putting enough emphasis on the work of the Office of Drug Control Policy.
“Most West Virginians agree we are in a crisis right now with respect to drugs and addiction,” Woelfel stated.
Woelfel said he committed to introducing bills on the first day of the next legislative session in January to elevate similar instances of wanton endangerment to a felony status.
“However, as I began the process of working on the legislation, I learned that the Office of Drug Control Policy is failing in its mission,” Woelfel stated.
In 2017, the Legislature created the Office of Drug Control Policy and charged it with creating a state drug control policy addressing all programs related to the prevention, treatment and reduction of substance abuse use disorder.
State code also requires the Office of Drug Control Policy to develop a strategic plan to reduce the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse and smoking by at least 10 percent and to develop a plan to expand the number of treatment beds throughout the state in high priority areas.
Both of the plans were due by this past July as stated in West Virginia Code.
“It is disheartening, to say the least, that the Office of Drug Control Policy has failed to meet the deadlines set by the Legislature to create strategic plans to address the drug crisis in West Virginia, while at the same time news reports last week noted there were more than 1,000 fatal drug overdoses in West Virginia last year,” Woelfel stated.
“These plans are a critical part of the Office of Drug Control Policy’s mission and its failure to complete them raises questions.”
The law creating the Office of Drug Control Policy took effect on July 7, 2017.
Since then, a series of people have been in charge.
Woelfel took note of a series of press releases from DHHR outlining the changes.
Secretary Bill Crouch appointed Jim Johnson as director effective Sept. 2, 2017; Johnson retired effective Jan. 22, 2018, and Susie Mullens assumed the role of interim director; Governor Justice appointed Michael Brumage as director effective Feb. 5, 2018; Brumage stepped down on March 23, 2018, and Susie Mullens again assumed the role of interim director.
Woelfel said he had significant trouble determining if Mullens remains the interim director or not. After a series of calls, he said, Nancy Sullivan identified herself as interim director of the Office of Drug Control Policy.
When Brumage was announced as the new director last August, Governor Justice also pushed for an effort to focus on a couple of counties in the fight against opioid addiction.
“We don’t have enough money to fight the battle on all fronts all the time,” Justice said. “But we’ve got to come up with a model that works.”
Justice added, “There is no way you can fight this on 55 fronts and win. We’ve got to have a win somewhere.”
Little has been said about that possible initiative in the year that has passed.