ABINGDON, Va. (AP) — The governors of Tennessee and Virginia will be in Abingdon along with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to talk about the drug abuse epidemic in Appalachia.
The event Thursday afternoon comes as President Barack Obama's administration seeks about $1.1 billion more for substance abuse treatment. Vilsack says the administration wants to expand the number of treatment centers nationally, train about 700 new drug treatment specialists and evaluate the results.
The proposal calls for Virginia to be eligible for up to $17 million over two years to expand opioid treatment; Tennessee, $24 million; West Virginia, $10 million; and Kentucky, $18 million.
Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will take part with Vilsack in the first in a series of town halls.
