ROANOKE, Va. – Thursday, Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring traveled to Roanoke to hear from health leaders about the opioid epidemic and addiction in Southwest Virginia.
During the roundtable talk, experts on recovery and addiction shared what they would like to see change in order to help more people in the community. Some of the ideas included more beds for recovery housing centers and how to address polysubstance abuse. Officials also spoke about the rise in substance abuse and relapse because of the pandemic.
“The isolation, the job loss, sometimes loss of healthcare, all helped to create as what some said here, ‘a perfect storm’ and to see those numbers climb back up is heartbreaking,” said Herring.
Herring also spoke about the millions of dollars that will be coming to localities in Virginia from the lawsuits against big pharma. how the money will be allocated has not yet been determined.