HUNTINGTON – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined the attorneys general of Ohio and Kentucky Thursday for a conference addressing substance abuse.
Morrisey, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, along with multiple experts, gathered in Huntington to empower local communities and faith-based groups in their fight against substance abuse.
The conference was entitled, “Taking Back Our Communities: Combating the Opiate Epidemic,” and took place at New Life Church in Huntington.
“Faith can play a tremendous role in fighting opiate abuse,” Morrisey said. “For far too long I believe government has failed to recognize that money alone cannot match the love found in faith-based communities.”
Attendees had the opportunity to hear from law enforcement, health care professionals, government officials and faith-based leaders who all share the goal of eliminating drug abuse in their communities.
Discussion topics gave attendees valuable insight and resources to better understand and assist those affected by drug addiction in their communities.
The crowd included many who were eager to learn how they can be involved in transforming their neighborhoods.
“Our elected officials are finding out through the faith-based community there’s a real strong help that’s available to them, that they can tap into and that can help get the results that we need,” New Life Church Pastor Darrell Huffman said. “We can provide a lot of things that will help people spiritually, emotionally that once the programs they going through has helped them to clean up the things in their exterior, through faith-based you give them hope on the inside.”
“This is a fabulous thing,” Winfield Police Chief Bobby Eggleton said. “When you bring three attorneys general and all of these people together like this, recovery, law enforcement, it’s only a win-win for everybody.”
“The issue of addiction really doesn’t know state lines,” said Karen Yost, CEO of Prestera Center. “To look at it from a broader prospective, from a three-state region, and not just to talk about the problem, but to have opportunities to talk about what’s working—I think it’s very important.”
The Huntington conference was part of a long-standing effort by West Virginia’s Attorney General to fight substance abuse in West Virginia.