CHARLESTON — While the data is preliminary, West Virginia appears to be following a national trend in the drop of drug overdose deaths since its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Jim Justice and the Department of Human Services announced Thursday new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing a 10% drop in the predicted 12-month-ending count of drug overdose deaths in the U.S., from 112,470 provisional overdose deaths in April 2023 to 101,168 provisional deaths in April 2024.

In West Virginia, the 12-month provisional overdose death rate dropped by more than 11% during the same period, from 1,462 predicted drug overdose deaths in April 2023 to 1,293 overdose deaths in April 2024. West Virginia’s provisional overdose rate dropped 19% from an April 2021 peak of 1,597 deaths.

“That’s great. We should celebrate that without any question,” Justice said Thursday during his weekly administration briefing. “We’ve had a decrease and that’s good, but it won’t be good enough until there’s zero. That’s how we ought to look at it. Let’s celebrate this a little bit, but at the same time we’ve still got plenty of issues to try to keep doing better and better about.”

When comparing the first quarters of 2023 and 2024, West Virginia’s provisional overdose death rate dropped by 28%.

“We are cautiously optimistic as the data points to real progress in our efforts to combat the opioid crisis in West Virginia,” said Christina Mullins, deputy secretary of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders at DoHS. “While much of our data is provisional, the numbers offer hope that our comprehensive strategies, including expanded access to treatment and prevention programs, are making an impact.”

According to DoHS, more than 97,000 naloxone kits were distributed in 2023. These kits can administer medication and reverse an opioid overdose. The state Office of Drug Control Policy and the Governor’s Council on Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment continues to work on plans to expand access to substance use disorder treatment and recovery.

“Lives saved and families kept whole are at the heart of this reduction,” said Dr. Stephen Loyd, the newly appointed director of the Office of Drug Control Policy. “It’s a testament to the tireless work of West Virginia’s health care providers, EMS teams, and community-based organizations working on the front lines of this crisis. We know there is still much work to be done, but these early numbers are encouraging. Our focus now is on ensuring that this momentum continues throughout 2024 and beyond.”

The new data comes a month after lawmakers were briefed by Jeremiah Samples, a former senior adviser to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, regarding West Virginia’s drug use statistics and policies.

Citing previous CDC statistics, West Virginia experienced 1,335 known overdose deaths in 2022. For perspective, overdose deaths between 2017 and 2022 increased by more than 55%, overdose deaths between 2010 and 2022 increased by 135%, and overdose deaths between 1999 and 2022 increased by 1,690%.

Samples said that total state spending on substance use disorder is hard to track and can only be estimated, with direct expenses well into the hundreds of millions of dollars annually. That’s not including indirect expenses on the criminal justice system and through the Department of Human Services.

Speaking Thursday, Justice blamed drug overdose deaths on the influx of fentanyl into the state and the nation. Justice has focused his Republican campaign for U.S. Senate on securing the southern border with Mexico, where some of the illegal fentanyl supply comes through.

“If we don’t stop what is going on at our southern border, we’re going to continue to have bad stuff happen,” Justice said. “Sure, we’ve had a decrease and that’s really good and we ought to celebrate that. At the same time, we’re still losing people, aren’t we?”

“If it happened to be a family member and someone who was dearly loved and everything, it wouldn’t matter that we were having a decrease,” Justice continued. “We want no one to be lost by an overdose, especially someone lost by an overdose from what’s going on at our southern border with the fentanyl and everything else and all the issues that deal with that.”