The State Of West Virginia ( Wv ) Passed House Bill 2021

In March 2016, the state of West Virginia (WV) passed House Bill 2021. This bill was developed to combat drug use among the poverty level population who depend on government benefits to provide for their basic needs. This bill was first developed with the understanding that every recipient would be required to drug test at the time of application for services. Through the process of legislative committees, the bill has changed to reflect that an applicant will only be required to test should the case manager feel that they are exhibiting the signs of drug use. At this time, the state of WV is working to develop policy to match the requirements of the new law. Introduction Substance abuse is a serious problem in the Appalachian area of WV. In an attempt to gain control of this problem within the poverty level population, WV has searched for a way to bring about change for those who utilize public assistance. Foster (2012) found the substance abuse problem within WV has grown exponentially over the last several years leading to serious problems within social and health service areas. This information confirmed a 2006 study completed by Morgenstern and Blanchard who predicted a serious spike if the problem was no addressed in an appropriate manner. Substance abuse issues within Appalachian have been addressed by several fields of study including social services, criminal justice, and health services. This issue is defined similarly in all fields even though it