West Virginia’s Drug Overdose Rate Highest in Nation, Again

West Virginia still leads the nation in the rate of drug overdose deaths.

The latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths in West Virginia is 52 per 100,000 in 2016. Ohio was second, with a rate of 39.1.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. The deadliest drug was the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which was linked to more than 19,400 deaths. The rate of drug overdose deaths connected to synthetic opioids doubled in just one year.