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CHARLESTON -- The person who could be overseeing efforts to reduce substance abuse on a national scale has connections to West Virginia, a state that's been ravished by drug use.
President Joe Biden will nominate Dr. Rahul Gupta, a former Kanawha County health official who went on to become the state's chief health officer, to the U.S. Senate as the new director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"President Biden's nomination of Dr. Rahul Gupta...is another historic step in the Administration's efforts to turn the tide of our nation's addiction and overdose epidemic," the White House said in a statement released Tuesday to the Washington Post. "Dr. Gupta brings firsthand experience as a medical doctor and public health official using evidence-based strategies to address the overdose epidemic in West Virginia."
First appointed in 2015 as chief health officer and commissioner of the Bureau of Public Health by former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Gupta is a specialist in internal medicine and preventive medicine. He was the executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department starting in 2009.
Gupta left the Department of Health and Human Resources in 2018, finishing out his service under Gov. Jim Justice. During his coronavirus briefing Tuesday, Justice praised Gupta's nomination.
"I think that is a great announcement," Justice said. "It is great news that President Biden is going to nominate as our chief drug czar all across our country a West Virginian, Dr. Gupta, a man who did incredible here on opioids and all the different stuff that he's done here. To have him plugged in that position can only make things better and better for the State of West Virginia."
Gupta joined the non-profit March of Dimes as its senior vice president and chief medical and health officer. He also advised Biden on drug control policy during his presidential transition between the 2020 election and his inauguration Jan. 20.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy, also known as the drug czar, was created in 1988. The office develops national strategies for combating substance abuse and oversees efforts to shut down drug trafficking in high-intensity areas and utilizes federal resources to reduce substance abuse and overdose deaths.
The nomination will need to be confirmed by the Senate. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Gupta would be the first physician to hold the position of drug czar.
"Dr. Rahul Gupta's nomination to serve as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy means someone with firsthand knowledge of the opioid crisis, especially in West Virginia, will be coordinating the national fight against the drug epidemic that continues to ravage our nation," Manchin said.
According to preliminary data released by DHHR in April, drug overdose deaths in West Virginia increased from 878 in 2019 to 1,275 in 2020.