Capito, colleagues call for more help to ‘stem the tide of substance abuse’ in Appalachia

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) joined a bipartisan contingent of lawmakers in calling for more assistance from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to combat drug trafficking in the Appalachian region, which encompasses West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and southwest Virginia.

“In Appalachia, law enforcement struggles to stem the tide of substance abuse,” according to a letter Sen. Capito and her colleagues sent to ONDCP Director Dr. Rahul Gupta. 

While some counties in West Virginia have experienced a slight decline in overdose deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that West Virginia remains the state with the highest number of such deaths in the country, wrote the senators, who included U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), among others. 

Specifically, they are concerned about ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and certain deficiencies in the designation process for counties in the Appalachian region.

“In 2018, the overdose mortality rate for individuals ages 25-43 was 43 percent higher in Appalachia than the rest of the country,” Sen. Capito and her colleagues wrote. “It is a region that needs the assistance that the HIDTA program was designed to provide.”

Yet, historically, the Appalachian HIDTA has only gained approval for roughly 30 percent of petitions submitted, and in the most recent round of designations, no counties within the Appalachian HIDTA received the designation, according to their letter. 

“This fact, juxtaposed with the region’s manifest need, suggests strongly that the process of awarding the designation needs to be revisited,” wrote the senators.

As ONDCP reviews HIDTA designation petitions from Appalachia, Sen. Capito and her colleagues asked that the office consider “the devastating impacts of illegal drugs in the region” to effectively end drug trafficking and reduce drug-related crime.

“We urge ONDCP to review its criteria to ensure that hard-hit regions like Appalachia remain competitive for HIDTA designations,” they wrote.