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Washington, D.C.- Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) has again urged the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to add ten additional Southwest Virginia counties to its Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. In February, Senator Webb requested the inclusion of thirteen Southwest Virginia counties into the Appalachia HIDTA, but an announcement earlier this month only granted HIDTA designation to Lee, Scott, and Wise Counties.

HIDTA facilitates cooperation between drug control organizations and helps federal, state and local law enforcement organizations invest in infrastructure and joint initiatives to confront drug- traffickers.

“In order to ensure basic fairness in the application of federal resources, I ask that you expedite the inclusion of the remaining 10 Southwest Virginia counties into the Appalachia HIDTA,” Senator Webb wrote to R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “The continuation of Appalachia HIDTA into all 13 Southwest Virginia communities will allow the Appalachia HIDTA to assist the local communities unduly burdened by this regional epidemic, in order to effectively locate and eradicate these systemic drug networks.”  

“As you know, these Southwest communities are closely knit with their neighboring counties within Virginia and across state lines,” Senator Webb continued.  “Like the ties between our communities, the flow of drugs is not constrained by county or state lines, and I remain concerned that federal assistance provided to communities integrated into HIDTA may exacerbate the already dire situation of non-integrated counties.”   

The counties in Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee that border Southwest Virginia are already a part of what is designated as the Appalachia HIDTA.   Senator Webb’s request would expand the Appalachia HIDTA from the three current counties to also include: Bland County, Buchanan County, Carroll County, Dickenson County, Grayson County, Russell County, Smyth County, Tazewell County, Washington County, and Wythe County.

Full text of Senator Webb’s letter to the White House is below:

Honorable R. Gil Kerlikowske
Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
750 Seventeenth Street, Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20503

Dear Director Kerlikowske:
                
                I write to support your recent decision to include three Virginia counties in the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program (HIDTA), and to urge the continuation of the Appalachia HIDTA program through the swift inclusion of the following Southwest Virginia communities: Bland County, Buchanan County, Carroll County, Dickenson County, Grayson County, Russell County, Smyth County, Tazewell County, Washington County, and Wythe County.

                While the extension of the Appalachia HIDTA into three Virginia counties represents a significant benefit for Southwest Virginia, the enormity and scale of drug-related issues facing the rest of our communities—such as the recent flood of methamphetamine into Tazewell County, systemic prescription pill trafficking in Russell County, and the presence of international crime syndicates in the City of Galax—requires a swift federal response and immediate support.  

                As you know, these Southwest communities are closely knit with their neighboring counties within Virginia and across state lines.  Like the ties between our communities, the flow of drugs is not constrained by county or state lines, and I remain concerned that federal assistance provided to communities integrated into HIDTA may exacerbate the already dire situation of non-integrated counties.   

                Of the 72 counties currently integrated in the Appalachia HIDTA, a historic disparity exists between the federal resources provided to Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia and those provided to Virginia.  Since its inception in 1998, state representation in the Appalachia HIDTA includes 28 counties in Tennessee, 26 counties in Kentucky, and 13 in West Virginia.  Only recently has Southwest Virginia been represented with three counties.  The pressing drug-related needs of Southwest Virginia’s communities are the same as the counties currently included in HIDTA, many of which have received over 10 years of federal support through this program.  

                Southwest Virginia’s local law enforcement requires officer overtime pay and the assignment of federal agents to address these issues—resources provided through the HIDTA program.  The law enforcement leaders in Southwest have personally relayed to me the tremendous strain on personnel and financial resources of efforts to combat drug related trafficking, abuse, and violence.  For instance, the cost of meth lab cleanup is over $2,500, the cost burden of which is placed on local law enforcement – whose budgets do not afford officer overtime pay or necessary safety and decontamination equipment.  

                In order to ensure basic fairness in the application of federal resources, I ask that you expedite the inclusion of the remaining 10 Southwest Virginia counties into the Appalachia HIDTA.  The continuation of Appalachia HIDTA into all 13 Southwest Virginia communities will allow the Appalachia HIDTA to assist the local communities unduly burdened by this regional epidemic, in order to effectively locate and eradicate these systemic drug networks.  


Sincerely,

Jim Webb
United States Senator

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