From Jan. 1 to June 30 this year, the city of Roanoke experienced 43 fatal drug overdoses, again according to VDH reports. Thirty-five of those deaths were fentanyl-involved.
Since 2020 Roanoke has seen an increase in the number of people sleeping on sidewalks and downtown areas. Last December, the city council voted to make sleeping on sidewalks a criminal offense. Other communities across southwest Virginia, including Bristol and Pulaski, have enacted similar policies in the past few months.