Stopping overdoses is only the first step: Virginia must build what comes next

By: Sarah King

Outlets: Virginia Mercury

Published: April 24, 2026

Words: 1,059

Last Updated: 2 months, 1 week ago

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Southwest Virginia has become euphemistic for America’s opioid crisis, the backdrop of Netflix documentaries and the setting of stories like “Demon Copperhead.” For more than a decade, the region has carried some of the highest overdose rates in the commonwealth, with the fewest treatment resources to meet that need — roughly 19 treatment beds per 100,000 residents in Virginia, compared to nearly 100 in neighboring West Virginia.

That imbalance is starting to shift.

Dickenson …

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