Virginia launches new website to help those fighting opioid addiction

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ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Attorney General Mark R. Herring relaunched www.HardestHitVA.com as a one-stop shop for prevention and educational materials on Virginia's heroin and prescription drug abuse crisis on Monday.

Through June 30 of this year, approximately 208 Virginians have died of a heroin overdose, 288 of a fentanyl overdose, and 220 of a prescription opioid overdose. In 2015, 342 Virginians died of a heroin overdose, 224 of a fentanyl overdose, and 397 of a prescription drug overdose.

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"Nearly 1,000 Virginians died of a heroin or opioid overdose last year and this year is on pace to be even deadlier. That means more loss and more heartbreak for too many Virginia families. When we started thinking about tools we could bring to this fight against heroin and prescription drug abuse, we knew that education and prevention had to be priorities right alongside enforcement and legislation," said Herring.

The relaunched www.HardestHitVA.com will host Herring's award-winning documentary "Heroin: The Hardest Hit," which features Virginians telling their own stories of addiction, overdose and recovery, including powerful testimony from parents who lost their children to an overdose, Virginians in long-term recovery, and law enforcement and healthcare professionals working to address the problem.

The new site will make it even easier for schools, families, community organizations, faith-based organizations, sports teams, and others to share the video with young people in their lives and with anyone who wants to better understand the scale of the heroin and opioid epidemic and its impact on Virginians.