Associated Press Published

W.Va., Ky., Tenn. Counties Removed from Drug Areas List

Pills, Drugs, Prescriptions, prescription drugs

  Five counties in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee have been removed from a federal list of high-traffic drug areas.

A Federal Register notice filed Monday says a threat assessment indicated the counties no longer met criteria for high-trafficking drug areas.

The notice says Mason County in West Virginia, Cumberland and Clinton counties in Kentucky, and Clay and White counties in Tennessee have been removed from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program list.

The program makes federal resources available to local and state police that face growing illicit drug markets. It was established through the Office of National Drug Control Policy in 1988.

An Appalachia list was established in 1998 to combat trafficking in 68 Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia counties.