ROANOKE COUNTY (WSLS 10) - Law enforcement agencies are figuring out the next steps in fighting a powerful drug circulating around the Roanoke Valley.
Powerful painkiller Fentanyl resulted in four overdose deaths since May.
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"It's a spike we haven't seen," says Assistant Police Chief Chuck Mason, Roanoke County Police Department.
Fentanyl is a narcotic drug used in medicine to relive pain primarily for people who have cancer. People say it's so new they are trying to spread awareness about the problem first.
"This is relatively new for us," says Assistant Chief Mason. "We first started seeing these numbers beginning to stack up just within the last couple of months."
Mason says a majority of the recent incidents involved people between 20 and 30 years old.
He says it's a big concern to see users getting younger and younger.
Organizations like RAYSAC, the Roanoke Area Youth Substance Abuse Coalition are reaching out to youth before they get hooked on drugs like heroin.
"It's a very highly addictive drug, and they don't know how quickly addicted they can become," says Kathy Graham Sullivan, RAYSAC director.