In Support of President Biden’s Unity Agenda, White House Drug Policy Director Travels to West Virginia to Discuss Efforts to Address the Overdose Epidemic and Save Lives

Dr. Gupta announces 13 new commitments to White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose from colleges, universities, and places of worship across West Virginia

Charleston, WV – White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta traveled to West Virginia to discuss efforts to address the overdose epidemic and save lives. Dr. Gupta met with West Virginians on the frontlines of the overdose epidemic – including law enforcement, public health officials, and state and local leaders – to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic actions and investments to tackle this epidemic, and highlight the critical partnerships needed at federal, state, and local levels to save lives.

“As part of his Unity Agenda for the Nation, President Biden called on every American to come together to address the overdose epidemic and save lives,” said Dr. Gupta. “It was great to be back in my home state of West Virginia to hear from leaders across every sector of society – from students and faculty, to health care providers and law enforcement officials – who are taking local action to prevent overdoses, treat substance use, and hold drug traffickers accountable. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting these critical efforts t0 strengthen public health and improve public safety in West Virginia and across the country.”

On Wednesday, Dr. Gupta met with representatives from The Martinsburg Initiative to hear about their efforts to prevent youth substance use in their schools and communities. The Martinsburg Initiative is supported by ONDCP’s Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program. Dr. Gupta recognized two youth coalitions for their outstanding work to ensure young people can lead healthy and fulfilling lives. After the meeting, Dr. Gupta visited Blue Ridge Community and Technical College (BRCTC) for a roundtable discussion to learn abouttheir community-led approach to address substance use disorder and expand access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications like naloxone. Dr. Gupta joined students, faculty, and community leaders to announce BRCTC’s commitment to the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose, a nationwide call-to-action to stakeholders across all sectors to commit to save lives by increasing training on and access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications.

On Thursday, Dr. Gupta joined local law enforcement and members of the Appalachia HIDTA for a live demonstration of their National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) mobile unit, which is operated in partnership with the Charleston West Virginia Police Department. This mobile unit is supported by $400,000 in FY 2022 discretionary funding from ONDCP’s HIDTA Program.

On Friday, Dr. Gupta visited WVU Medicine – Thomas Memorial Hospital for a tour of their new intensive care and in-patient pediatric units to learn about the critical services they provide to people with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. In the afternoon, Dr. Gupta joined West Virginia state and local leaders for a roundtable discussion to hear about their work to reduce overdoses, increase access to addiction treatment, and support recovery-ready workplaces. Later in the day, Dr. Gupta visited West Virginia State University (WVSU), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), to learn about their Collegiate Recovery Program, which supports students in recovery. Dr. Gupta joined students, faculty, and peer recovery specialists to announce WVSU’s commitment to the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose.

During the trip, the following organizations made commitments to support the Challenge and save lives:

• Blue Ridge Community and Technical College
• Bluefield State University
• BridgeValley Community and Technical College
• Camp Hill-Wesley United Methodist Church
• Concord University
• Glenville State University
• Greater Recovery and Community Empowerment (GRaCE)
• Marshall University
• West Liberty University
• West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network
• West Virginia State University
• West Virginia University
• West Virginia Wesleyan College

During his first State of the Union address, President Biden announced beating the overdose epidemic as a key pillar of his Unity Agenda, focused on issues where all Americans can come together and make progress for the nation. Over the past three years, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic actions and made historic investments to strengthen public health efforts and crack down on illicit drug trafficking across the nation. Just today, President Biden issued a new National Security Memorandum calling on all relevant Federal Departments and Agencies to do even more to stop the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in our country, and President Biden and Vice President Harris issued a call for Congress to enact legislation to increase penalties on those who bring deadly drugs into our communities and to close loopholes that drug traffickers exploit.

Read the National Security Memorandum on Prioritizing the Strategic Disruption of the Supply Chain for Illicit Fentanyl and Synthetic Opioids Through a Coordinated, Whole-of-Government, Information-Driven Effort HERE.

Read President Biden’s full statement on the National Security Memorandum HERE. 

Read the fact sheet on new actions the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to counter the scourge of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs HERE.

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