A new report on injury prevention has unveiled that West Virginia, Kentucky and Nevada witness the highest number of drug overdose deaths in the nation.

Ohio is at eighth position and Pennsylvania ranks ninth in the nation. Drug overdose incidents have increased more than twice fold in the last 14 years. Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said the incidents can be curbed.

Trust for America's Health has worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to come up with a report on 'The Facts Hurt: A State-by-State Injury Prevention Policy Report'. As per the report, around 44,000 people die from drug overdose every year. The number has increased by more than double from 1999 to 2013.

The report released on Wednesday, ranks states on their actions to curb the most common causes of injury-related deaths. Experts said that 10 years back, these drugs were used to relieve pain or cancer treatment, but now they are being used for more treatments, which have brought a rise in the prescription of opioids.

In order to control the nation's heroin and prescription-drug abuse epidemic, there is a need to have prescription drug monitoring programs and need of availability of the overdose rescue drug naloxone. Working together with public health and other sectors is also a great way to reduce injury and death.

"We see a growing number of people in law enforcement recognizing that, first, it's a health issue as well as criminal justice issue", said Levi.