Drug Overdose

Naloxone kits will soon be available at West Virginia colleges and universities statewide. West Virginia’s Drug Intervention Institute and the Collegiate Recovery Network have teamed up to supply the lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drug, often referred to by its brand name, Narcan.

“There's a clear correlation with regard to the pandemic and the isolation and the inability to access support services for folks who have [substance use disorder],” said West Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Crouch.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released preliminary data Wednesday that estimates 100,000 people died in just a 12-month span -- from March 2020 to March 2021. During those months, 1,600 West Virginians passed away.

The plan, and priorities set by Biden’s Office of Drug Control Policy, highlight a shift to less punitive and evidence-based measures, said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

The 2021 Overdose Epidemic Report is based on numbers through January 2021. It shows that opioid prescriptions have decreased each year, but deaths continue to rise.

West Virginia saw an almost 40 percent increase in these deaths compared to 2019.

A contest deadline is approaching for West Virginia schoolchildren to raise awareness of prescription painkiller abuse.The Kids Kick Opioids contest is…

The West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy announced the launch of a new online Overdose Data Dashboard that tracks drug overdoses across West…

A new study has found that less than a third of American adolescents and young adults who experienced a nonfatal overdose were able to get addiction…

New West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources data suggests fatal drug overdose deaths might be leveling off or even decreasing slightly.The…