LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than $800 million is going toward tackling an issue that killed more than 2,000 Kentuckians in 2021. The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission is in charge of distributing the funds that will help put a stop to the deadly opioid crisis.
The commission held its 6th meeting Tuesday afternoon where Eastern Kentucky native Jessica Noble spoke about how her addiction started.
“I pulled a muscle and the doctor prescribed me lortabs right away. That was the treatment he went to,” Noble said. “He believed wholeheartedly in it and I thought, well, he’s not going to give me anything that's going to hurt me.”
That was just the start of her 10-year-long addiction.
It's why Noble and other members of Partners for Rural Impact spoke at the latest Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission meeting.
“I know so many people, there's not a family in Owsley County that hasn't been touched by drug addiction and most of it starts with an opioid addiction,” Sue Christian, family training coordinator with Partners for Rural Impact. said.
The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission is made up of nine voting and two non-voting members and includes stakeholders, law enforcement and victims of the opioid crisis.
The group is in charge of distributing the $842 million from settlements Attorney General, Daniel Cameron reached in 2022 with opioid companies. The commission will continue to have meetings and town halls, with the next town hall scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 17 at the Consolidated Baptist Church in Lexington from 6 p.m. ot 8 p.m.
“It is not for us to tell people what the funds are going to be used for, we want them to tell us what they need,” Von Purdy, member of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, said. “So these town halls are going to do just that where people fill in applications because each community is going to vary on what they need.”
For eastern Kentucky natives, their goal is to keep families whole.
“Life is full of difficulties and challenges, you add this to the mix, it's almost un-doable but we feel like there’s hope,” Amon Couch, associate vice president with Partners for Rural Impact Appalachia said. “We feel like there's hope when you think about family engagement so if one of those folks in those other rooms talking is thinking we need to keep families whole then it's been worth any time that we've given.”
Why Noble will continue to speak out about her journey from addiction to recovery, for a better life for her daughter.
“I just don't want to see her live the same life that me and so many others have lived,” Noble said.
As of Jan. 10, the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission has received 34 completed applications and 231 applications are still in progress. The group will begin administering funds this spring.