United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Drug abuse and trafficking, particularly of opioids, is a critical threat to West Virginia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that there was a statistically significant increase (16.9 percent) in drug overdose deaths in West Virginia between 2014 and 2015. The state had the highest rate of overdose deaths in the country in 2015, approximately 42 for every 100,000 people; CDC data indicate that 725 people died of drug overdoses in West Virginia in 2015, more than double the number who died from car accidents.