WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has designated Butler County as a part of the ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program. The HIDTA program works to provide assistance to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This HITDA designation will ensure Butler County can get the additional resources and support they need to help fight the opioid epidemic. Brown wrote to the Trump Administration urging Butler County’s designation to the HIDTA program in April.

“There isn’t a community in Ohio that hasn’t been touched by the addiction epidemic, and we are doing all we can to fight it,” said Brown. “This HIDTA designation for Butler County will help get law enforcement in the area the resources they need to stop drug trafficking, prevent drug addiction, and save lives.”

Brown has worked to address Ohio’s ongoing addiction epidemic and also fought to ensure ONDCP stays fully funded. 

In February, Brown pushed the administration to better support communities facing the opioid epidemic after President Trump proposed cutting ONDCP’s funds by $340 million. Brown also urged the Administration to fill key drug policy positions, including leadership positions within the ONDCP office.

In May, the Ohio HIDTA Program Director endorsed Brown and Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-OH) Providing Officers with Electronic Resources (POWER) Act. Brown’s bill would provide state and local law enforcement organizations with grant funding to secure the same portable devices Brown and Portman secured for Customs and Border Protection agents in the INTERDICT Act. President Trump signed Brown’s INTERDICT Act into law earlier this year. 

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