Fatal Drug Overdoses in Western Va. Break Record - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Western Virginia's death toll from drug overdoses hit a record 270 fatalities in 2011.

That's more than three times the annual rate during the late 1990s.

The Roanoke Times reports that Dr. Paul Benson with the state medical examiner's office presented the figures Wednesday during a prescription drug abuse summit in Wytheville.

A majority of fatal overdoses involved prescription drugs. Cocaine and other street drugs accounted for the other deaths.

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