HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The mayor of Huntington is one of the speakers for the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2020 National Opioid Summit which was scheduled to wrap up Friday in Washington, D.C.
“I’m going to talk about the partnership that I have with the U.S. attorney and with the federal apparatus — FBI, ATF, DEA, the U.S. Marshal Service — and how we’ve come together,” Mayor Steve Williams said.
His appearance as part of a panel focused on “Winning the Fight” was coordinated through the office of Mike Stuart, U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District.
Also on the speaker list for Friday was William Barr, U.S. attorney general.
Mayor Williams has not spoken at the event before now, though other Huntington city officials have been part of past summits.
The first DOJ National Opioid Summit of this type was held in 2018.
In 2018, more than 67,300 Americans died from drug overdoses and more than two-thirds of those overdoses involved heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the years, West Virginia has led the U.S. in rates of drug overdose deaths with Huntington at the top of the list.
That’s been changing.
“They’re seeing that, where Huntington was once labeled as the epicenter of the heroin epidemic, we are (now) becoming known as the epicenter of solutions,” Mayor Williams said.
Grant funding has been used to support initiatives in Huntington like the Quick Response Teams that follow up after reported drug overdoses.
“The partnership with the Department of Justice has been strong and I’m going to be having my radar up for what other opportunities are there,” Williams said.
“One thing that I’ve learned, when you’re invited to these things, the contacts that you make always, always create additional opportunity for you.”
The National Opioid Summit began on Wednesday with presentations from Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration, James Carroll, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and others.
Last month, Carroll visited Mingo County and Logan County with U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).