Fentanyl and opiate abuse continues to be a large problem in Northwest Georgia, according to public health authorities, who said the area has the second largest number of overdoses in the state.

“What’s also very disturbing is the amount of young children exposed to fentanyl,” said Dr. Gary Voccio, health director for the Georgia Department of Public Health’s northwest district. “Nationwide in 2013, there were five exposures; in 2023, there were 529 young children exposed to fentanyl and 5% of them fatal.”

One of the problems with fentanyl is that it is typically adulterated with other chemicals, he said, making it even more deadly.

Nationally, fentanyl overdoses are down slightly, Voccio said, and he attributed that to the availability of Narcan.

Narcan is the brand name most often associated with the drug naloxone, which is used to quickly treat opiate overdoses by blocking the effectiveness of the drug. It’s typically delivered as a nasal spray.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths increased from 8.2 deaths per 100,000 standard population in 2002 to 32.6 in 2022, a four-fold increase.