Rise in drug deaths sounds the alarm
2020 will go on record as the worst year ever for drug deaths in Virginia
Skyrocketing numbers of fatal drug overdoses in Virginia make it more urgent than ever to support existing programs and come up with new approaches to combat this deadly scourge. Opioid addiction and deaths from overdoses of opioids and other drugs were already at epidemic proportions here as in much of the United States, despite increased awareness and more prevention and treatment initiatives. Then the coronavirus pandemic struck, and as with so many societal ills, it made a bad drug problem much worse.
In Virginia, fatal drug overdoses have been the No. 1 cause of unnatural deaths every year since 2013.
Now 2020 will go on record as the worst year ever for drug deaths here. Rosie Hobron, the statewide forensic epidemiologist, raised the alarm in a report released in October. Hobron estimated that there will be 2,053 drug deaths in Virginia this year. Most are related to the opioid drugs — both prescription and illegal substances — that have become a major problem in recent years, but cocaine, meth and other potentially deadly drugs are also a factor.
To put that figure into perspective, the most drug deaths Virginia has recorded in any other year is last year’s toll of 1,626. The numbers are bad enough in themselves, but the fact that most of those deaths were preventable makes them even more troubling. Numbers are similarly up across Hampton Roads, with the most drug deaths reported in Norfolk.
It’s depressingly obvious how the pandemic made an already bad problem worse. Vulnerable people struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness and related mental and emotional problems have found their lives made worse in many ways by COVID. They have fewer social interactions. Some have lost jobs or otherwise run into financial woes. Those who usually indulged in drugs in social settings, where someone could call for help or give them a dose of naloxone to counter an opioid overdose, were now more likely to take drugs when alone.
Before COVID hit, state and local medical and mental-health professionals, and substance-abuse programs such as Norfolk’s The Up Center had been working hard to reverse the epidemic of drug deaths. Substantial state resources had gone into a variety of efforts to help people struggling with drug abuse.
But COVID restrictions have made it tougher for people to take advantage of available resources. Many of the people who need help most either find it difficult to participate in virtual programs or find that those programs don’t meet their needs.
Many of us seem to have put life almost on hold, waiting for the day when vaccines will be widely available and we can get back to some semblance of normal. Those who work with drug abuse point out that, unfortunately, many people who struggle with addiction have been damaged in ways that will persist.
Some people who had been making progress in treatment have relapsed or become even more addicted, with consequences that could be dire.
Before coronavirus arrived, Virginia was fighting an uphill battle against the devastating problem of overdose deaths. Now redoubled efforts will be needed to fight an even more drastic situation.
As a commonwealth, we can build on efforts that had begun to work. We need to make it easier for people to find affordable mental-health treatment. We need to provide and promote outreach programs, making sure that people in poor and isolated communities aren’t overlooked. We need to provide more drug-abuse treatment at low cost or no cost, and make it easier for people to get help without becoming involved in the justice system. Making naloxone widely available can save lives, allowing someone a chance to get more permanent help. Efforts to crack down on physicians who overprescribe opioids should be increased.
We should also be open to more creative and compassionate approaches. The pandemic will end, but the drug overdose epidemic will continue to rage — unless Virginia works even harder to stop it.