For the second year in a row, drug overdose deaths in Virginia set new record

According to state data, the number of Virginia drug overdose deaths increased in 2021, hitting a new high for the second year in a row.

The Virginian Pilot reported Saturday that overdose deaths jumped 15% from the previous year to 2,656, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health. Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, was the main force, accounting for 76.5 percent of all overdose deaths in 2021.

According to Rosie Hobron, a statewide forensic epidemiologist and the report’s author, drug traffickers are combining fentanyl with other chemicals to make them easier and cheaper to manufacture and transport.

Traditional overdose treatments, according to Hobron, are less successful against fentanyl. For example, she claims that reversing a fentanyl overdose might take numerous doses of the opioid overdose reversal therapy Narcan.

Last year, Norfolk and Virginia Beach had the most drug overdose deaths in the Hampton Roads region, but Portsmouth had the region’s highest fatal overdose rate.

The numbers supplied were preliminary, open to change, and most certainly underreported, according to the report. The Virginia Medical Examiner Database System provided the information for the report.

Featured Picture Credit: CBS 19