Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin will be announcing on Tuesday a pilot program for dealing with the fentanyl epidemic in the commonwealth, focusing on education and support resources to prevent overdose deaths .
Youngkin told the Washington Examiner that the campaign, which will first be launched in the greater Roanoke area, is called “It Only Takes One” because “it really does only take one pill or one marijuana join or one mistake for someone to lose their life.”
There have been 7,000 fentanyl overdose deaths in Virginia since 2020, 381 of which have been in the Roanoke and Salem areas, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Three-fourths of all overdose deaths in Virginia are due to fentanyl.
Roanoke has the highest concentration of overdose deaths of any metro area in the state, and the number of fentanyl deaths in the greater Roanoke area has more than doubled since 2019.
Organized by the first lady’s office, the pilot program has an “all-hands on deck” operation, Youngkin said, bringing together numerous stakeholders, from the attorney general’s office and the Department of Health to community partners, including faith-based organizations, schools, and city emergency medical services.