In 2017, West
Virginia Legislators passed House Bill 2620, the West Virginia Drug
Control Policy Act, creating the Office of Drug Control Policy within the West
Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. The purpose of this policy
is to improve drug overdose surveillance and help strengthen the response. The
policy enacted the creation of a central repository that stores drug overdose
information, making drug overdoses a notifiable condition and placing limits on
opioid prescribing. This proposal builds
upon West Virginia’s efforts to access complete and timely data while providing
support to state and community professionals to inform the scope of the
epidemic and assist in targeting prevention and response efforts.
Other tasks assigned to the
ODCP:
(1)
Develop a strategic plan to reduce the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse and
smoking by at least ten percent by July 1, 2018;
(2) Monitor, coordinate and oversee the
collection of data and issues related to drug, alcohol and tobacco access,
substance use disorder policies and smoking cessation and prevention and their
impact on state and local programs;
(3) Make policy recommendations to executive
branch agencies that work with alcohol and substance use disorder issues, and
smoking cessation and prevention to ensure the greatest efficiency and
consistency in practices will be applied to all efforts undertaken by the
administration;
(4) Identify existing resources and prevention
activities in each community that advocate or implement emerging best practice
and evidence-based programs for the full substance use disorder continuum of
drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention, including smoking cessation or
prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery;
(5) Encourage coordination among public and
private, state and local, agencies, organizations and service providers and
monitor related programs;
(6) Act as the referral source of information,
using existing information clearinghouse resources within the Department of
Health and Human Resources, relating to emerging best practice and
evidence-based substance use disorder prevention, cessation, treatment and
recovery programs, and youth tobacco access, smoking cessation and prevention.
The Office of Drug Control Policy will identify gaps in information referral
sources;
(7) Apply for grant opportunities for existing
programs;
(8) Observe programs in other states;
(9) Make recommendations and provide training,
technical assistance and consultation to local service providers;
(10) Review existing research on programs
related to substance use disorder prevention and treatment and smoking
cessation and prevention and provide for an examination of the prescribing and
treatment history, including court-ordered treatment or treatment within the
criminal justice system, of persons in the state who suffered fatal or nonfatal
opiate overdoses;
(11) Establish a mechanism to coordinate the
distribution of funds to support any local prevention, treatment and education
program based on the strategic plan that could encourage smoking cessation and
prevention through efficient, effective and research-based strategies;
(12) Establish a mechanism to coordinate the
distribution of funds to support a local program based on the strategic plan
that could encourage substance use prevention, early intervention, treatment
and recovery through efficient, effective and research-based strategies;
(13) Oversee a school-based initiative that
links schools with community-based agencies and health departments to implement
school-based antidrug and anti-tobacco programs;
(14) Coordinate media campaigns designed to
demonstrate the negative impact of substance use disorder, smoking and the
increased risk of tobacco addiction and the development of other diseases;
(15) Review Drug Enforcement Agency and the
West Virginia scheduling of controlled substances and recommend changes that
should be made based on data analysis;
(16) Develop recommendations to improve
communication between health care providers and their patients about the risks
and benefits of opioid therapy for acute pain, improve the safety and
effectiveness of pain treatment and reduce the risks associated with long-term
opioid therapy, including opioid use disorder and overdose;
(17) Develop and implement a program, in
accordance with the provisions of section three of this article, to collect
data on fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses, caused by abuse and misuse of
prescription and illicit drugs from law enforcement agencies, emergency medical
services, health care facilities and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner;
(18) Develop and implement a program that
requires the collection of data on the dispensing and use of an opioid
antagonist from law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, health
care facilities, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and other entities as
required by the office;
(19) Develop a program that provides
assessment of persons who have been administered an opioid antagonist; and
(20) Report semi-annually to the Joint
Committee on Health on the status of the Office of Drug Control Policy.