Starting this week — and for the first time since January 2023 — the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy has a permanent director.
Dr. Stephen Loyd, an internal medicine and addiction medicine physician from Tennessee, began work on Monday after being named as head of the agency last month.
With a medical degree from East Tennessee State University, Loyd previously worked as the chief medical officer at Cedar Recovery in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. He also sat as chair of the state’s Opioid Abatement Council. Before that, he served as Tennessee’s top drug policy expert, holding the position of opioid czar for the state’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Use for about two years.
Loyd’s first act as head of the state Office of Drug Control Policy was presenting to lawmakers on the Joint Standing Committee on Health, where he shared what his approach will be in his new office and what he believes could help the state be successful in confronting the ongoing drug and overdose epidemic.
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“West Virginia has been ground zero for the opioid crisis. It’s where it started. It’s where it’s continued today, and there have been a lot of really great people in this state that have worked really hard and because of whatever reasons, we are where we are, right?” Loyd said. “I think it would be a great thing if West Virginia showed the rest of the country how to get out of this crisis, and I think that we can do that.”
An integral part to confronting the epidemic, Loyd said, is increasing attention on measurable outcomes of what works when it comes to addiction. He said the state needs to get “creative” in approaches and ensure that responses are coordinated and strategic, with communication between different agencies that deal with people impacted by substance use disorder.
The first places he plans to look at, he said, are the state’s criminal justice system and Medicaid.
“There’s no state in the United States that’s going to address the opioid crisis effectively in their state without addressing criminal justice. It’s not going to happen,” Loyd said. “So many people are imprisoned in our jails and our penitentiaries in the United States that are secondary to substance use disorder. That number is so big, it won’t matter what you do outside of there, if you don’t address it there, we will be failures, I promise you that.”
When people who have substance use disorder are released from incarceration, they are 40 times more likely to overdose and die in the days after their release than others in their communities, Loyd said.
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“That is one of the biggest gaps that we have right now,” Loyd said. “That is low hanging fruit, and we can go after that, but we’ve got to have quality places in our community that are treating people, that accept Medicaid, that have standards of care that I think that this legislative body can put in place to ensure this happens. I’m going to bring those ideas before you, I promise you that in short order.”
Generally, Loyd said, the state needs to improve its use of data analytics. Loyd said he would like to see the state make “a small investment up front” to create a “roadmap” for response.
Loyd previously worked as a voluntary co-chair of The Helios Alliance, an Alabama-based organization that is using “innovative, transformative [and] evidence-based technologies” to confront the opioid epidemic while educating the public on interventions. He is not currently listed on the organization’s website as a co-chair and it’s unclear when he left that position.
In March, Loyd told KFF Health News that he believes statistical modeling and artificial intelligence can be used to create a simulation of the opioid crisis that could predict what kinds of programs would be most effective at saving lives. That modeling, he said, can help direct local officials on how to best invest money they receive through opioid settlement funds. It’s unclear where the efforts to create this modeling — which was estimated to cost about $1.5 million for Alabama — currently stands. According to KFF, the Helios Alliance was also “in discussions” with leaders in Tennessee and West Virginia to create simulations.
When it comes to getting creative with responses, Loyd said leaders should be looking at policies and laws that already exist and potentially using them in a new way. He referred to mental hygiene holds, which allow for people who have the potential to harm themselves or others being held for several days to undergo psychological evaluation.
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If that law could be used for someone who injects drugs — which, he said, presents a clear danger to the person — providers could use that time to try and get the person into a system of recovery. To do that, however, there must be a dependable system in place for them to enter into. He said he plans to start immediately learning about West Virginia’s recovery infrastructure and what challenges exist there.
Loyd told lawmakers that part of what drives his dedication to addiction work is his own experiences with the disease. The inspiration for Michael Keaton’s character in the Hulu limited series “Dopesick” (based on the 2018 book of the same name by journalist Beth Macy), Loyd has been in recovery from opioid and benzodiazepine addiction for 20 years.
He wants to ensure that, through his work, people who live with substance use disorder are afforded the same opportunities he was to enter a system of recovery that works and reclaim their lives.
“This is my life,” Loyd said. “I wake up every morning with one goal, and that’s to help as many people find recovery as humanly possible. That’s it. I don’t care really about anything else.”
Different people, Loyd said, will have different paths to recovery. The important thing is ensuring that there are sound and dependable systems in place for them to utilize, no matter what their path looks like.
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“We have to talk about evidence-based prevention strategies that are going to work. And guys, I don’t care about what the politics are behind it. I don’t care about what the push is behind it,” Loyd said. “I want to do things that work and that save people’s lives and give them an opportunity to do the things that I’ve been given an opportunity to do in my life.”
Jay Jones’ victory in Virginia’s attorney general race added an exclamation point to the Democratic romp in this week’s elections.
But whether Jones can help Democrats deliver on their campaign pledge to lower electricity costs is more like a question mark.
During the campaign, Jones was dogged by his past messages fantasizing about the death of the Republican state House speaker and his children. That October surprise spurred Republican groups to pour resources into defending incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares — hoping to maintain their hold on a key office as polling showed Democrats poised to sweep the rest of state government.
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But Tuesday’s blue wave propelled Virginia’s entire Democratic ticket to victory. Jones’ margin of victory was the slimmest, but he still won by nearly 200,000 votes, according to unofficial returns, or almost 6 percentage points.
PITTSBURGH – The No. 3 Pitt volleyball team (19-3, 11-1 ACC) returns to the Fitzgerald Field House to play Virginia Tech (10-13, 2-10 ACC) on Friday night at 6 p.m. and Virginia (10-12, 3-9 ACC) on Sunday at noon. The matches can be streamed on ACCNX and ACC Network, respectively.
The Panthers hold a 16-6 all-time advantage over Virginia Tech and have won 10 straight in the series. Olivia Babcock recorded 18 kills, seven digs and two blocks against the Hokies last year to lead Pitt.
Pitt is 19-3 against Virginia and has won 12 straight matches. Seven Panthers recorded at least one kill last year against the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, and Pitt held Virginia to less than 10 points in two of the three sets. The Panthers haven’t lost to either opponent since 2015.
HISTORIC. AGAIN.
• Olivia Babcock broke her own program record with 45 kills against North Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
• That kill total is the most in NCAA Division I volleyball since Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson had 50 against UConn on Nov. 3, 2019.
• Babcock has recorded at least 25 kills seven times this season and has three 30+ kills to her name in 2025 and four in her career.
• Her previous record was 41 kills set against rival Louisville on Oct. 19.
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DYNAMIC DUO
• Olivia Babcock and Brooke Mosher earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week and ACC Setter of the Week, respectively.
• The duo has combined for eight ACC weekly accolades, with Babcock at five and Mosher at three.
• Babcock continued her dominance last week, averaging 7.88 points per set, 6.88 kills per set, 1.75 digs per set and 1.25 blocks per set in wins over Duke and then-No. 21 North Carolina.
• Mosher paced the Pitt offense by averaging 10.88 assists per set and 2.63 digs per set in two wins this past weekend.
RACKING UP RANKED WINS
• The Panthers earned their eighth ranked win of the season against then-No. 21 North Carolina on Sunday.
• They boast an 8-3 record against top 25 opponents.
• Pitt and Nebraska are tied for second in the nation with eight ranked wins right behind Texas, who has nine.
MEYER MAGIC
• Mallorie Meyer had a career day against North Carolina.
• The sophomore libero recorded a personal-best 21 digs and 10 assists to lead Pitt’s back court defense.
• Meyer and the Panthers held the Tar Heels to a .180 clip.
SWEEPS ON SWEEPS
• The Panthers swept both NC State and Wake Forest.
• Marina Pezelj had a match-high 12 kills on Friday night against the Wolfpack, tying her career high.
• Mallorie Meyer recorded a then career-high 11 digs, her second double-digit dig outing in three matches.
• Olivia Babcock notched a match-high 16 kills on a .560 hitting percentage to round out the weekend against Wake Forest.
MARINA ON A TEAR
• Freshman outside hitter Marina Pezelj has stepped in due to a Dagmar Mourits injury and is thriving.
• She tied her career high with 12 kills, a match best, in three sets against NC State while hitting .381 with eight digs, a personal best five blocks, an ace and an assist.
• Pezelj followed that up with eight kills on a .286 hitting percentage, five digs, a career-high three aces, a block and an assist against Wake Forest.
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PLAYED OUR CARDS RIGHT
• Pitt came back from being down two sets to one to defeat rival Louisville in the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena.
• Olivia Babcock set a new program record with 41 kills while hitting .423, and Brooke Mosher recorded a career-high 60 assists to pace the Panthers to a .313 team hitting percentage.
• Mallorie Meyer notched 10 digs and seven assists, and Blaire Bayless also registered a career-high eight digs.
• Babcock made an appearance on NFL Countdown to help preview the top-10 rivalry match.
SURVIVED IN FIVE
• The Panthers earned a gritty five-set win over Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
• Olivia Babcock had a match-high 29 kills, and Marina Pezelj enjoyed a career day with 17 digs and 12 kills.
• Pitt is currently 4-2 in five set matches this year.
HISTORY MADE!
• Olivia Babcock was named the AVCA National Player of the Week after setting a new program record with 41 kills in the five-set victory over then-No. 4 Louisville.
• She became just the second player to earn four weekly national awards in a career, tying Minnesota’s Stephanie Samedy for the all-time mark.
• Babcock rewrote the previous record of 37 set by Ann Marie Lucanie against Auburn on 9/13/91.
• She is the only player in the NCAA to record at least 40 kills in a single match this season and the fourth to reach that milestone since 2019.
STAT STUFFER
• Olivia Babcock is currently second in the nation in points per set (6.07), tied for second in kills per set (5.24) and fourth in total points (504) and total kills (435).
• Bre Kelley is 17th in blocks per set (1.41).
• Brooke Mosher is 36th in total assists (843) and 44th in assists per set (9.92).
ACC AWARDS KEEP ROLLIN’ IN
• Olivia Babcock earned her fourth ACC Offensive Player of the Week award of the season (10/20).
• This marks the 14th ACC weekly honor of her career (8 Offensive Player of the Week and 6 Freshman of the Week)
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DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
• Olivia Babcock has recorded a team best eight double-doubles so far this season.
• Six of them have come in the last 13 matches, including a career-high 17 dig performance against No. 11 SMU.
• Her 2.18 digs per set this season is a personal best, improving upon her 1.82 digs per set her sophomore year.
Virginia election officials are still counting ballots, but so far, Jason Miyares has about 120,000 more votes than his Republican ticket-mate Winsome Earle-Sears.
While Miyares, the Republican incumbent attorney general, still lost his race by nearly 6 points, it shows at least some voters split their tickets. Miyares’ opponent, Democrat Jay Jones, overcame the scandal that became the focal point of the race, after old text messages from Jones surfaced that suggested a former Republican House speaker should get “two bullets to the head” and the lawmaker’s children should die in his wife’s arms.
NBC News exit polls showed 40% of voters felt those texts were disqualifying — but in the end, it didn’t seem to matter.
That same data shows that most of that 40% voted for Miyares.
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But still, experts said Wednesday they feel that we’re witnessing a new age in Virginia politics, in which most voters are willing to excuse otherwise inexcusable behavior — as long as the bad actor is on your side of the aisle.
Jones earned nearly 170,000 fewer votes than Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, which could suggest the text message scandal had some effect but not enough to cost him the race, which he still won handily by nearly 6 points.
“We will use tonight as a springboard to reject the politics of divisiveness and division and we will build a brighter future for every single Virginian,” Jones said on Election Night.
This race was the most expensive attorney general’s race in American history, and ad spending really took off once the text message scandal emerged.
Stephen Farnsworth of the University of Mary Washington feels that party allegiance is too strong, and given the current environment, he thinks just about any Democrat could have won a statewide race this year.
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“The last decade has been marked by a significant decline in what is acceptable behavior. We now have a very low bar in terms of anything that may be disqualifying,” Farnsworth said.
Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin suggested Wednesday the text message scandal isn’t going to disappear.
“The next administration is going to have to figure out how to deal with that, because they have law enforcement that they’re going to need to make sure feel good about doing the job,” Youngkin said.
But Jeremy Mayer, a political science professor at George Mason University, doesn’t believe this issue will matter much moving forward.
“With Donald Trump and his admission of sexual assault in the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, I think we learned we’re in a different world,” Mayer said. “A lot of Republicans in that moment said, ‘Oh, he’s going to lose!’ and the speaker of the House withdrew his support and Trump won. And that tells you something about polarization, and Jay Jones rode that same horse of polarization to victory last night.”
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When asked if he thinks the electorate spoke loudly enough Tuesday night or if he thinks the incoming administration will need to address the text messages, Mayer responded: “Did Donald Trump have to deal with the ‘Access Hollywood’ video after he was elected? He was washed clean in the water of the election, and that’s what happened to Jay Jones.”
