Substance Use and Drug Overdose
Goal
By 2029, reduce the rate of drug overdose deaths among Virginians from the baseline of 23.6 deaths per 100,000 people to below the HP2030 target of 20.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
Substance use disorder and drug overdoses have been increasing in the Commonwealth for many years, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. Drug overdoses increased 78% from 2017 to 2021, with 2,622 drug overdose deaths among Virginians in 2021. Seventy-eight percent of drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl, fentanyl analogs and tramadol.
From 2017 to 2021, drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids increased 157%. Virginia is not alone in this—more than 20 million adults and adolescents in the United States have had a substance use disorder in the past year.1 Strategies to prevent substance use disorder and to mitigate the harm of substance use will improve the health of individuals and the overall well-being of communities across the Commonwealth.
Strategies
Train providers in safe prescribing practices.
Promote the use of the Prescription Monitoring Program among providers to prevent patients from getting prescriptions from multiple providers.
Identify providers who are high prescribers and encourage use of nonopioid prescriptions and pain management alternatives to prescriptions.
Strategies
Develop and implement a statewide media campaign on safe storage and disposal of medication.
Increase distribution of naloxone statewide, ensure provision of fentanyl test strips to populations at high risk to prevent fentanyl poisoning, and educate people who use drugs on the dangers of fentanyl in Virginia’s drug supply.
Increase access to effective substance use treatment, including medication assisted treatment (MAT).
Develop prevention education programming for middle and high school students about the prevalence and dangers of fentanyl and scale up the best-practice of Fentanyl Awareness Days in high schools by expanding programming initiated in Southwest Virginia to educate parents and mentors.
Strategically increase authorized Comprehensive Harm Reduction (CHR) programs and support current CHR programs.
Partner with statewide organizations and local school boards to develop policies ensuring staff and students are trained to use naloxone to reverse opioid drug overdoses, and ensure naloxone is available in education settings.
Partner with law enforcement and other community members to identify data gaps and critical needs in drug overdose response.
Address barriers to receiving care and Increase linkage to care programs for persons presenting to an emergency department with an overdose.