Virginia is seeing significant effects of the opioid epidemic, reports The Washington Post.
The publication cites a new report from the state medical examiner, which shows Virginia experienced a 38 percent rise in fatal drug overdoses between 2015 and 2016. State health officials contend abuse of synthetic opioids, heroin and prescription fentanyl is at least partly to blame, according to The Washington Post.
When looking solely at deaths from several varieties of fentanyl, the percentage increase was 175 percent, reports The Washington Post.
Overall, Virginia saw at least 1,420 drug overdose deaths last year, the publication states. A mixture of heroin and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is about 50 times more potent than morphine, is linked to at least 151 of those deaths. Heroin alone contributed to 229 drug overdose deaths in 2016 while fentanyl alone contributed to 224.
According to the report, state health officials cited fentanyl mixed with heroin as the largest contributor to the increase in fatal opioid overdoses statewide.