HARRODSBURG, Ky. (LEX 18) — Groups in Mercer County hosted an Overdose Awareness event on Tuesday, giving people access to life-saving overdose prevention tools.
The event, hosted by Isaiah House Treatment Center and Mercer ASAP (Agency for Substance Abuse Policy), allowed community members to find resources for those struggling with addiction.
Some of those resources included naloxone, a life-saving tool for someone suffering from an overdose, and fentanyl test strips, which were just legalized by the Kentucky legislature this year.
Data from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy shows there were 2,135 overdose deaths in the state in 2022. That's down 5% from 2021, when 2,250 people died of a drug overdose.
Mercer County was home to 17 of those deaths in 2022. Tobie Reeser-Sherrow, chair of Mercer ASAP, is working to get that number to zero in the future.
"With the amount of fentanyl we have in the drug supply, we've lost a lot of people locally," Reeser-Sherrow said. She applauded harm reduction groups' new ability to distribute fentanyl test strips.
At Tuesday's event, Isaiah House peer support supervisor Jason Gabhart shared his story about overcoming addiction.
"I know this town struggles with addiction. I know, I used to be in the lifestyle with them," Gabhart said.
Gabhart entered treatment at Isaiah House himself in 2017, later going on to work for the treatment center. He is now featured on a billboard in downtown Harrodsburg.
"If my story can help anybody, even if it's one person, I want it to," he said.
Tuesday's event comes during Overdose Prevention Week, which runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2.
