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Sen. Capito hosts Federal Drug Czar Carter in West Virginia

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (left) and ONDCP Director Sara Carter (right) talked with the media following a closed-door roundtable discussion in Charleston Friday about the substance use disorder crisis.

The new federal official charged with combating the substance use disorder crisis joined U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito to hear from those in West Virginia on the frontlines of battling drug abuse and providing needed treatment.

Capito, R-W.Va., and Sara Carter, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), took part in a closed-door roundtable discussion with local, state and federal law enforcement officials, members of the West Virginia First Foundation, and those involved in substance use disorder treatment Friday morning at the Charleston Area Alliance offices.

“We’re really honored to have the administrator of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy here,” Capito said in a press conference with Carter following Friday morning’s roundtable. “We had a great roundtable … to really give you ideas and to give you a slice of life of what happens here in West Virginia, how we have solutions, and what our problems are.”

Carter, a former investigative journalist and Fox News contributor, was confirmed in January by the U.S. Senate as the 10th director of ONDCP, sometimes called the drug czar. She was nominated by President Donald Trump for the role in March 2025. She succeeds acting ONDCP director Jon Rice and former ONDCP director Dr. Rahul Gupta who also served as West Virginia’s state health officer and commissioner of the Bureau of Public Health.

“It’s absolutely fantastic to be here in West Virginia,” Carter said. “The tragedy is that this was ground zero. So many people suffered. So many people are still suffering. And we want to ensure that we are going to be here, not only for the people of West Virginia number one, but for the entire nation.”

West Virginia has long struggled with the substance use disorder crisis, from the influx of prescription opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, and most recently the use of other drugs spiked with synthetic opioid fentanyl. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, West Virginia had the highest opioid overdose death rate in the nation in 2024, with 38.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

West Virginia’s drug overdoses spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1,563 deaths reported in April 2021 according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though the state’s drug overdose deaths have droped to 642 as of November 2025, a nearly 59% decrease.

Carter said the ONDCP is set to unveil a new national drug control strategy that would address limiting the overall supply of illegal drugs in the U.S. and the criminal operations bringing these drugs into the country, as well curbing the demand within the U.S.

“We want to ensure that we are going to dismantle and destroy the cartels, but we are not going to forget, first and foremost, that America’s greatest resource is its people,” Carter said. “We are going to ensure that we will deliver recovery and treatment to those who need it, and prevention for our children.”

“That’s what’s most important for me being here right now and listening to all this success that West Virginia has had with you, Senator Capito, working together as communities and coalitions to fight the crisis, and ensure that people have a place to go and children have a place to go to recover and find treatment,” Carter continued.

Capito praised the efforts of Carter and the Trump administration for cracking down on the amount of lethal fentanyl entering the country, from fentanyl precursors coming from China to fentanyl-laced drugs coming through ports of entry, including the southern border with Mexico. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. decreased by 56% since Trump took office in January 2025.

“Here in West Virginia, we know that the drug problem exists, but you think you’re so far away from a drug cartel in Mexico, or you think you’re so far away from the precursors that come in from China,” Capito said. “This is something you’ve really worked on in terms of cutting the demand.”

“Trump has empowered us to do our job,” Carter said. “We are not being micromanaged. We are being told, how do we get this done? How do we stop the flow of poisons coming into our country? Because this isn’t just about overdose deaths; this is about poisoning of our young people.”

“When it comes to the drug cartels, we have a message, and this message is directly from President Trump, and it is evident in his actions: You will no longer operate with impunity in our nation,” Carter continued. “We will take you down, we will seize your cash, and we will dismantle and destroy you.”

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