Vilsack, McAuliffe, Haslam convene on drug abuse issue

(AP) — Kicking off a national tour on opioid addiction, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack brought together the governors of Tennessee and Virginia on Thursday to talk about stemming Appalachia's drug abuse epidemic.

The town hall reinforced President Barack Obama's call for Congress to pump $1.1 billion more into substance abuse treatment.

Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam see solutions in a mix of treatment, prescription monitoring, drug courts, education and new economic opportunities.

Many in Appalachia blame Obama's climate-change strategy of limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants for the region's job losses.

Declining prices for natural gas and renewable energy, thinning Appalachian seams, competition from other U.S. coal regions and dim markets both domestically and abroad are all hastening the industry's decline.

Adding $1.1 billion would create more treatment centers nationally; train about 700 new psychologists, psychiatrists and physicians specializing in drug treatment; and evaluate the results, Vilsack said.