The Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force on Wednesday issued a critical alert following a concerning surge in overdoses and overdose deaths in the northwest corner of the state.
Between Feb. 10 and Feb. 24, the task force documented 11 overdoses, resulting in five deaths — a significant increase from the five overdoses and one death reported between Jan. 1 and Feb. 10 of this year, according to a Virginia State Police news release.
“The past few weeks have made the threat we face from fentanyl apparent,” said Front Royal Police Chief Kahle Magalis in the release. “We want to caution the public and make them aware of exactly how lethal fentanyl can be.”
The task force covers the city of Winchester as well as Frederick, Clarke, Page, Shenandoah and Warren counties. Last year, according to task force data, there were 20 fatal and 87 non-fatal overdoses reported within its coverage area.
The task force has also seized approximately four times the amount of fentanyl in the initial two months of 2024 than it did in the entirety of 2023, the release noted.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an analgesic (pain relief) and anesthetic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
In response to the escalating crisis, the 10 local and state law enforcement member agencies comprising the task force are rallying residents to engage with Virginia’s anti-drug awareness initiative, “One Pill Can Kill.”
This initiative is aligned with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 26, geared toward fortifying the state’s response to the fentanyl epidemic. A new website for the initiative, www.onepillcankillva.org, was launched last week by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
According to the CDC, there were 109,680 fatal overdoses nationwide 2022.
“To put that into perspective, we lost over 50,000 Americans in Vietnam over the course of 15-plus years,” Miyares told an audience at a Frederick County event last week. “So it’s two Vietnam wars hitting this country every twelve months. It’s like a fully loaded (Boeing) 727 crashing every day.”
Since 2020, more Virginians have died from fatal drug overdoses than motor vehicle and gun-related deaths combine, according to the “One Pill Can Kill” website.
Town of Strasburg Police Chief Wayne W. Sager, the command board chair of the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, underscored the pivotal role of public awareness in averting potential overdoses.
“Every pill we take off the street is a potential overdose prevented,” he stated in the press release. “We need the public to be aware of how dangerous this problem is, and to avoid drug use.”
The Northwest Virginia Drug and Gang Task Force is comprised of law enforcement personnel from the Clarke, Frederick, Page, Warren, and Shenandoah County sheriff’s offices; Front Royal, Luray, Strasburg and Winchester police departments; and the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Culpeper Field Office.
Tags: Fentanyl Opioid Epidemic Overdose Safety Alert
