VIRGINIA – A new CDC study shows that drug overdoses and poisonings were the third leading cause of death for children and teenagers ages one to 19 in 2020, jumping 83.6 percent from the year before.
The sudden increase was in large part due to a 110.6 percent increase in unintentional poisonings.
“We were really making strides,” said Nancy Hans, the executive director of the Prevention Council of Roanoke.
She said when the world shut down, students had to deal with new stressors, isolation and more screen time. Some also spent more time home alone or unattended while caregivers had to work, providing more opportunities to pop pills.
“I do think that drugs are just taking over,” said Lorraine Cunningham, who works with families at Oakey’s Funeral Service & Cremation in Roanoke.
The tragic reality can be seen in Southwest Virginia.
“The overdoses, as well, have been a tremendous increase in the last couple of years,” said Cunningham.
In Virginia, for the 1-19 age group, there were 26 fatal overdoses in 2019, which jumped to 40 in 2020. That’s a 65% increase.
Accidents accounted for a majority of the deaths: 18 in 2019 and 31 in 2020. Most of them were in the 15 to 19 age range.
A forensic epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health said that out of all those deaths the number 1 killer– was fentanyl.
“The real scare now is fentanyl. And that is in anything,” said Hans.
Hans says caregivers need to take action:
1) Get old prescription medicines out of your house
2) Talk to your kids about the dangers of drugs
3) If you don’t know how to start the conversation, don’t be afraid to ask resources like the Prevention Council of Roanoke for help.
“We backslid,” said Hans. “Now we’ve got to get out there and start to say, ‘Look, we’ve got to come together and continue to talk about this.’”