(LEX 18) — For the second year in a row, Kentucky saw a decrease in drug overdose deaths. According to the Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report, the Commonwealth had 9.8% decrease in 2023.
Governor Andy Beshear and leaders from addiction treatment agencies celebrated the decrease on Thursday. However, they acknowledged that Kentucky still has a lot of work to do.
1,984 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses in 2023, according to the 2023 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report. The governor pointed out that two drugs accounted for the majority of the deaths.
"Fentanyl accounted for 79.1% and methamphetamine accounted for 55.2% of overdose deaths," explained Beshear.
“By working together, we have decreased the amount of drug overdose deaths in Kentucky, yet still far too many lives have been lost, and we still have a long way to go,” he added.
One trend that troubles the governor is the drug overdose rate among Black Kentuckians. The state's latest report shows that drug overdose deaths increased by 5% for African Americans. The increase is smaller than the 22% in the 2022 report, but Beshear believes it's still a failure.
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"It is unacceptable to have any disproportionate impact. And at a time where we’ve seen overall overdose deaths go down, to see a 5% increase in our African American population is not ok," he said. "This is a failing. And we have to be as intentional as we can be and put resources where they need to be the most."
"We are committed to working with community partners and leaders to reverse this trend," he added. "And we are going to use recently received grant funding to increase education and outreach efforts.”
According to Kentucky's Office of Drug Control Policy, the state made "great progress this past year in providing treatment resources to more Kentuckians in different parts of the commonwealth."
In 2023, 160,000 doses of Narcan were distributed, 3,920 calls were made to the KY HELP Call Center (833-8KY-HELP) and 35,918 people utilized the 84 syringe service program sites.
Narcan, or the generic drug, Naloxone, which is used to reverse opioid overdoses, is credited with helping Kentucky reduce overdose deaths. To help get it into the hands of people across the Commonwealth, the state recently launched a new website to help Kentuckians find places to obtain the drug for free. The website is: FindNaloxoneNowKY.org.
“Naloxone – an FDA-approved opioid overdose reversal medication – continues to be one of our most important tools for saving the lives of individuals experiencing an overdose,” said Dr. Jody Jaggers, the director of Pharmacy Public Health Programs.
Other helpful resources:
- Kentucky's Treatment Access Program: allows those without health insurance to enter residential treatment
- Recovery Ready certification: helps communities support residents who are seeking help for drug or alcohol addiction
- FindRecoveryHousingNowKY.org: a new searchable website to help people in recovery find housing
KY Help Call Center (833-8KY-HELP or 833-859-4357): speak one-on-one with a treatment specialist for additional resources
