Va. congressional delegation asks for heroin task force

Expressing alarm at increased reports of heroin use in Virginia, a dozen members of the state’s congressional delegation are asking Gov. Terry McAuliffe to set up a task force to address the problem.

“Not a week goes by without a local newspaper or TV news program in Virginia reporting on the death of yet another heroin addict. Many localities are on track to see double the number of heroin overdose deaths over last year,” the lawmakers wrote in the June 4 letter.

“Unlike past heroin epidemics in the U.S., it is not confined primarily to urban areas, but is spreading into suburban and rural communities,” they wrote.

The lawmakers indicated the task force could prompt state legislation to help law enforcement agencies and communities.

Among those signing the correspondence were Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, and three congressmen from southeast Virginia: Reps. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach; Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake and Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland County. Other signers were House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Reps. Gerry Connolly, Bob Goodlatte, Morgan Griffith, Robert Hurt, Jim Moran and Frank Wolf.

###