Nearly $21 million in state funding has been awarded to expand residential treatment services for substance abuse across West Virginia. The state Department of Health and Human Resources announced the funding Monday. Two of the programs are in Morgantown and two are in Parkersburg, with one apiece in Beckley, Culloden, Huntington, Martinsburg and Wheeling.
Tag: DHHR
Public Comment for Opioid Response Plan
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced Thursday steps for an opioid response plan to combat the opioid epidemic. DHHR is asking West Virginians to help develop the plan through public comment and recommendations over the next 15 days.
DHHR said in a news release, the opioid response plan will be delivered to Governor Jim Justice and the West Virginia Legislature by mid-January.
Until then, however, DHHR’s new Office of Drug Control Policy has opened up a comment period to West Virginians, and is looking for suggestions on the best ways to address the opioid crisis.
The Office will also look to partnerships with regional and national experts as the plan is developed – coordinating with a panel of public health experts from West Virginia University, Marshall University and Johns Hopkins University.
The expert panel will include:
Dr. Sean Allen, Assistant Scientist in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Allen has advanced training in geospatial and longitudinal data analyses. He formerly served as a senior policy advisor in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Dr. Jeffrey Coben, Dean of the West Virginia University School of Public Health and Associate Vice President of Health Affairs. He has achieved international recognition for his accomplishments in the field of injury prevention and control.
Dr. Shannon Frattaroli, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University. She is one of the lead authors of America’s Opioid Epidemic: From Evidence to Impact, a report released by Johns Hopkins University and the Clinton Foundation.
Jim Johnson, Director of the DHHR’s Office of Drug Control Policy. He has 29 years of law enforcement experience and has served as both a police chief and director of the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy in Huntington.
Dr. Sean Loudin, Associate Professor at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. He specializes in neonatal-perinatal medicine with research and clinical interests that have focused on neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Participation of the Johns Hopkins University faculty is made possible with support from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative.
A public meeting will be held following the conclusion of the public comment period to include treatment providers, first responders, law enforcement, and several others.
A release of the draft plan for public comment is expected the first week of January.
Drug Screening Now Required for W.Va. TANF Applicants
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced it has started drug screening benefits applicants of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
DHHR said in a news release it began screening people who apply for TANF, also known as WV WORKS, early last week.
The screening requirement is part of a three-year pilot program that state lawmakers passed in 2016, but required approval from the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.
To be eligible for benefits, applicants must now complete a drug-screening questionnaire to determine if there’s reasonable suspicion of drug use. If there is suspicion, that individual will be required to take a drug test.
Those who test positive will be referred to a substance abuse treatment and counseling program, as well as a job skills program.
West Virginians enrolled in WV WORKS receive financial and supportive services such as training assistance, occupational skills development, job search support and child care assistance.
Consideration of Medical Marijuana Stalled in House
A bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state is bypassing the committee process, putting it on the fast track for a vote in the House. Senate Bill 386 was read for a first time on the floor Thursday night after a 54 to 40 procedural vote to bring it straight to the floor.
The vote has been called historic in the chamber. But several delegates argued pulling the bill out of the committee process was the only way members would get to put the medical marijuana bill to a vote this session.
Senate Bill 386 would create the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, legalizing medical marijuana in the state. It passed out of the Senate Wednesday on a 28 to 6 vote after being worked through the chamber’s Health and Judiciary Committees.
The bill, titled the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, would create a 17-member commission in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. That commission would oversee the program, creating rules for doctors, patients, growers and dispensers that would then be approved by the Legislature.
Certain illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, or seizures could constitute a doctor prescribing marijuana under the bill. Patients with a prescription would also be able to grow up to two plants for personal use. The medical cannabis program, however, wouldn’t begin until July 2018.
The bill was on Second Reading in the chamber Friday after the procedural vote Thursday night to bypass the committee process.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Majority Leader Daryl Cowles of Morgan County says the bill was supposed to go to the House Health and Judiciary Committees before being brought to the floor. He opposed the motion last night to dispense with the committee references.
“Well, I thought it was fair and reasonable to send it to those committees,” Cowles said, “The issue of medical marijuana, while it enjoys some support, the bill is poorly written. It has some technical flaws, it has some legal issues, and that bill needs to be worked in the Health Committee and in the Judiciary Committee to work some of those things out. So I was certainly in support of sending it to committee before it was ever to be considered by the House.”
Republican Delegate Mike Folk of Berkeley County made the motion to pull the bill Thursday. Folk says the move was important. “Because I believe that was the only way this bill would ever make it to the floor,” he said, “and so it was important just to; and it already passed two committees in the Senate.”
Several lawmakers – both Republicans and Democrats – gave floor speeches Thursday night criticizing House leadership for not prioritizing a medical marijuana bill in the chamber.
“The vote that happened last night sent a very serious message that the people of West Virginia want this,” Folk noted, “Their representatives have been told that, and we’ve talked this to death for years. 29 other states already have it; it’s the compassionate thing to do for those people that have illnesses.”
Republican Charlotte Lane of Kanawha County was one of those delegates who’d introduced a medical marijuana bill this session in the House. Her bill was never placed on an agenda, but she wants to see a program in the state.
“Some of us in the House have introduced medical marijuana bills, but we realized the House wasn’t really going to take up our bills,” Lane said, “so when the Senate sent over a bill that was a good bill, then we took that opportunity to just say, let’s dispense with the committee reference, let’s just leave it on the floor, and that way we can vote for it, and we saw that as the only opportunity that we were going to get this session to vote on medical marijuana.”
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
At the start of Friday’s floor session, however, House Judiciary Chair John Shott of Mercer County asked to address the members of the chamber.
“The majority of the members here clearly expressed their desire to take up a bill on medical marijuana,” he said, “I was not part of that majority, but I accept and respect the decision of the majority… My philosophy has always been, even if you don’t agree with something that we take up down here, we ought to try to make it the best that it can possibly be.”
Shott says he studied the Senate bill Thursday night and does have some concerns with it. He’s worried about the amount of power the commission would actually have over everything from prescriptions to packaging. He asked the members to allow him to make a motion to delay consideration of the bill until Monday.
“My commitment to you is if you will give my staff and my council; chief council has agreed to give up his Sunday, I’m willing to stay here this Sunday and work on this,” Shott explained, “and present something to you on Second Reading on Monday for you to vote on and give you those choices.”
Republican Pat McGeehan of Hancock County, a member of the Liberty Caucus who joined Democrats in moving the bill to the floor, questioned Shott.
“Sir, I respect your position, and I do not intend to object if you would give us your word that some of the members of the prevailing side of the motion that carried last night would have at least have some sort of access or involved in the amendment process,” McGeehan said.
“Anyone who wants to stay over Sunday and work with us on this is welcome to participate,” Shott replied.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Minority Leader Tim Miley of Harrison County spoke in favor of Shott’s request. He told the body he spoke with Shott and House Speaker Tim Armstead Friday morning.
“I want everyone to know that despite, at times, there being an unhealthy dose of paranoia and fear and skepticism in this body, I do think everyone’s prepared to work forward on this issue in a bi-partisan manner to get a great product whether you are ultimately for or against the bill,” Miley said.
The bill was postponed until Monday when members will be able to offer amendments to the medicinal cannabis act. No objections were made to the motion.
If House leadership does not delay the medical marijuana bill again, Senate Bill 386 would be up for a final vote in the chamber on Tuesday. If the bill is amended by the House, it would have to return to the Senate for its approval before being sent to the governor for a signature.
Gov. Jim Justice has said he could support medical marijuana in the state.
Medical Marijuana Bill Bypasses Committee Process in W.Va. House
A senate bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state is being fast-tracked through the West Virginia House of Delegates. Senate Bill 386, which passed out of the state Senate Wednesday night on a 28 to 6 vote, would create the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, legalizing medical marijuana in West Virginia.
The bill creates a 17-member commission in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to oversee the program and write rules for legislative approval. Certain illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, or seizures could constitute a doctor prescribing marijuana under the bill. Patients with a prescription would also be able to grow up to two plants for personal use. The medical cannabis program, however, wouldn’t begin until July 2018.
In an evening floor session Thursday, delegates took up the Senate message notifying the House of the passage of the bill.
Delegate Mike Folk, a Republican from Berkeley County, made a motion to have Senate Bill 386 bypass the committee process and be brought immediately to the floor on first reading.
Several delegates spoke in favor of the motion including Republican Charlotte Lane of Kanawha County, who criticized House leadership for being unwilling to run the bill.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
“It has become clear to me that my bill and other bills are never going to see the light of day,” she said, “and for those of us who have sick friends who want medical marijuana to ease their suffering, this is our only chance. I don’t know about you, but I spent the afternoon listening to all of my phone messages, and these were from people saying support medical marijuana.”
Earlier in the session, Democrat Isaac Sponaugle of Pendleton County tried to amend another bill to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs in the state. Schedule I drugs are classified as illegal with no medicinal benefit and include drugs like heroin and cocaine.
Sponaugle explained his amendment had been the first step in the process to make marijuana legal to prescribe in the state, but that motion was defeated in the House, because delegates argued the proposal hadn’t been vetted in the committee process.
But Senate Bill 386, Sponaugle says, has been.
“This bill passed out of the Senate, 28 to 6. It was vetted in the Health committee over there; it was vetted in the Judiciary committee over there,” Sponaugle noted, “This body, several weeks ago, made an amendment to lower Schedule I to Schedule IV. You stuck with your leadership team, and how many of you all got beat up for voting red? You’re not going to get another vote on this if you don’t vote today; I’m just gonna tell ya. It’s going to get buried in these committees, and you’re gonna be on the board voting against medical marijuana twice.”
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Delegate Joe Ellington chairs the House Health Committee, which would have likely been the first to see the bill in the chamber. He encouraged members to trust him to get the bill on his committee’s agenda.
“I am willing to put it on the committee. I’ll run it,” Ellington said, “I don’t think the Speaker’s going to have any objection to that. I promise I’ll put it on the committee agenda, so you know, it’s up to you if you want to go through the normal process. I’ve heard members from the other side won’t try to discharge bills before talk about how important the process was to go through the committee process. You know, we can decide if we’re gonna be hypocrites or not. I’m willing to put it through the committee process, and then we can go from that.”
House Judiciary Chair John Shott of Mercer County says not giving the bill time in committee would not be doing West Virginians any favors.
“We would have this bill on Second Reading tomorrow if this motion’s passed. Second Reading. It is now almost 7:00 p.m. How long do you have to prepare your amendments for tomorrow? How long do you have to even read this bill tonight and learn what’s in it? It is a complicated issue, and we need some time to do it right,” Shott explained.
Republican Delegate Mike Folk, who made the motion to bypass the committee process, commended the Senate’s work on the legislation.
“The most important thing you need to know about the bill, to allay any fears you might have, is the effective date for that bill is not even until July 2018, most of the stuff; sets up a commission to study so to develop the rules and regulations to address any concerns that anybody might have,” Folk said, “You can feel confident that there will be a structure in place in this bill.”
After an hour of debate, Folk’s motion passed 54 to 40, and the bill was read a first time on the floor. It will be on second reading Friday, and could see a final vote as early as Saturday.
W.Va. Indigent Burial Program Exhausts Funds
State funding to pay for indigent burials in West Virginia has run out five months before the end of the fiscal year, an official for a funeral directors group said.
Frederick Kitchen, West Virginia Funeral Directors Association president, told The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register that an increase in drug overdose deaths is to blame.
Kitchen said the Department of Health and Human Resources sets aside about $2 million annually for burial costs for indigent people. Funeral homes are offered $1,250 to cover individual burial expenses for low-income people.
“We’ve got five months with no money available,” Kitchen said. “Funeral directors do what they can, but this creates a hardship for a lot of funeral homes.”
Kitchen said the number of drug overdose deaths also has put a burden on the state medical examiner’s office, which often takes up to three weeks to complete autopsies.
Gene Fahey, vice president at Altmeyer Funeral Homes which operates facilities in West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia, said drug addiction deaths have “exploded” over the past five years.
Eric Fithyan, funeral director and planner for James and Chambers funeral homes in the Northern Panhandle, said parents or grandparents will spend a fortune on a child or grandchild who is fighting an addiction.
“Then they can’t have the funeral they want because they spent all their finances on the child or grandchild,” Fithyan said. “In some cases they are taking care of the addict’s children who have become wards of the state . It’s almost a form of elder abuse.”
Funeral director James Kepner in Wheeling said the toll of the drug epidemic is not confined to one age group.
“We have seen 50 to 80-year-olds who have overdosed,” Kepner said. “It’s not just the young people.”
Kepner said the most difficult time for families dealing with this particular type of death is after they leave the funeral service.
“That’s when they starting asking ‘why?'” Kepner said.