FRANKFORT, Ky. — In an interim committee meeting June 18, lawmakers from both the state Senate and House heard from top state officials on substance use disorder in Kentucky.
The meeting began with a look at the 2023 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report. It found 1,984 Kentuckians died from a drug overdose last year, a nearly 10% decrease from 2022.
However, among Black Kentuckians, the number of overdoses rose for a fifth year.
Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, told lawmakers nearly 80% of overdoses were linked to fentanyl.
“There is just too much money to be made here ... that it is now the largest cause of death between 18- (to) 45-year-olds,” Ingram said.
The number of total deaths in 2023 remains higher than in pre-pandemic years, but Ingram said much is being done to combat the crisis.
Nationally, Ingram said Kentucky has the most recovery beds per capita. And recently, more work has been directed at getting the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone into the hands of those needing it the most.
“We worked with 39 jails and prisons to make sure that everybody that left jail or prison, that if they would take a Narcan kit, we’d give it to them,” Ingram said.
Several programs have tackled the issue head on in Appalachia, the region of the state with the highest rate of overdose deaths in 2023.
Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins, who is also subcommittee chair for the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health, said he believes the state is leading the way in recovery efforts.
One example he pointed to was the success of Senate Bill 20, passed by the legislature in 2022. It created a pilot program in several counties to divert certain offenders away from jail and into substance abuse treatment. Letcher County was one of the places chosen.
“If we can get these people rehabilitated, get their lives back, get them contributing as taxpayers again, then to me it’s a win-win,” Mullins said.
The next Kentucky General Session will begin in Jan. 2025.