Although the Trump administration initially suggested the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s budget would be slashed by 95 percent, the 2018 budget proposal released Tuesday proposes a 3 percent cut to the ONDCP. 

Specifically, the Drug-Free Communities Program would be cut by $3 million (from $95 million to $92 million), and the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program would be cut by $6 million (from $250 million to $244 million). 

Nine cities throughout West Virginia have received Drug-Free Communities funding, and 20 counties in the state, including Mercer, Raleigh and Wyoming, have a HIDTA designation.

Earlier this month, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., wrote to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, urging the administration to reconsider cuts to these programs. 

“It’s just unacceptable to cut the funding at a time when we have this raging opioid and drug addiction issue in not only our state, but across the country,” Capito told The Register-Herald.

She said it’s important to realize this budget proposal is only the Trump administration’s recommendation. The Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Capito is a member, will now take the lead. 

“We’ll be putting our own priorities on it, which gives me a good starting point to maintain funding, or even bring it back to where it was before,” Capito noted. 

“We still have a long way to go, but I’m encouraged by the call I made, and seeing the letters I wrote were heeded.” 

Funding to help combat the drug epidemic is a priority for Capito, she said, adding, “It’s a matter of life and death.” 

In a release, Acting Director of the ONDCP Richard Baum said the president’s budget supports a total of $27.8 billion in drug control efforts, including $1.3 billion in investments for Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act programs, 21st Century CURES Act programs, and other opioid-specific initiatives that seek to address the current epidemic.

U.S. Congressman Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., shared his concerns in a release about budget cuts impacting West Virginia, but noted his appreciation of the restored funding for the ONDCP. 

“I urged the White House to reconsider eliminating these programs, and I am glad to see they stopped these devastating cuts.”