Bill to Create Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities Passes in House

The West Virginia House of Delegates has passed a bill that will encourage the creation of substance abuse treatment facilities in the state.

While lawmakers have considered several bills this session aimed at punishing drug traffickers and dealers, House Bill 2428 is about recovery. The bill would establish a special fund to collect donations from the public and any appropriations the Legislature can offer in the future to open more substance abuse treatment facilities.

Democratic Delegate Phil Isner from Randolph County spoke in favor of the bill. He says he’s glad the body got to vote on a bill like this, this session.

“We’ve spent a lot of time this session passing bills that will punish the dealers; the people that are bringing the drugs into our state, and I’ve sponsored, cosponsored, and voted for several of those bills, but I am so encouraged that we are now trying to attack this problem from the other side,” Isner said, “and that is to deal with the users that have got caught up in this, and every one of us probably has a friend or a family member that’s been there.”

The new fund would be called the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention and Recovery Fund, named after a young man from Kanawha County who died of heroin addiction.

House Bill 2428 passed 99 to 0 and now heads to the Senate.