Arkansas state leaders continuing to spread awareness over opioid epidemic

Arkansas – The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has overshadowed another problem many are facing, especially in Arkansas: the opioid epidemic.

In the last three years, the epidemic has claimed 1,200 lives across the state.

“In 2019, 352 overdose deaths, 18.1% from 2018, we had 436 overdose deaths, so we’re trending the right way,” Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane said.

State leaders will use Red Ribbon Week to continue to spread the message about the dangers of opioids and how the epidemic has impacted families statewide.

“Methamphetamine has always been a number one drug threat in the state of Arkansas,” Lane said. “We’re starting to see a lot of ploy drug deaths, where drugs are mixed together, and most alarming, we’re seeing fentanyl, which is a deadly synthetic opioid, mixed into a lot of drugs.”

Lane and other state executives still plan to host programs to keep the state on the right track, especially with many stressed due to the pandemic.

Lane added that most overdoses involve those between the ages of 25-50.

“Drugs are bad, we know drugs are bad, and it has no place in our society,” DEA Little Rock Asst. Special Agent Justin King said.