Drug Overdose and Substance Use

Drug use and addiction affect all communities in Virginia.  Drug use can result in infections, like HIV or hepatitis C, overdoses needing emergency or hospital care, and deaths. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) provides resources to prevent and respond to drug overdoses and other outcomes in Virginia. VDH and other state agencies work to improve health outcomes and reduce injury and deaths from drugs, including fentanyl. VDH is committed to being a trusted source of public health information and services. 

Virginia Fast Facts

In 2023, there were:

• 2,463 drug overdose deaths among Virginians, a 1% decrease from 2022; drug overdose deaths peaked in 2021 at 2,622 deaths.

»­­ Almost eight out of 10 (79%) drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol.

• 21,881 drug overdose emergency department (ED) visits, a 2% decrease from 2022.

• 381 Virginia infants younger than one year hospitalized with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in 2023, a 6% decrease from 2022. Rates of NAS in Virginia have decreased since 2019.

• 30% of acute hepatitis C cases with at least one risk factor reporting injection drug use. Injection drug use is the most commonly reported risk factor, even though cases reporting risk factors may fluctuate each year.

For more information about hepatitis, visit the hepatitis data dashboards.

• 55 new HIV diagnoses associated with injection drug use, about 6% of all new HIV diagnoses.

For more information about HIV, visit the HIV data dashboards. 

• 31,360 substance use-related incidents requiring emergency medical services (EMS) response. 

A full dataset is available on the Virginia Open Data Portal.