WCPT: “Drug overdose deaths in Kentucky decreased 5% between 2022 and 2021, the first drop since 2018.
New data from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center showed 2,127 Kentuckians died from a drug overdose in 2022 compared with 2,257 the year prior.
Gov. Andy Beshear pointed to a statewide program allowing Kentuckians without health insurance to enter residential treatment programs as a factor potentially driving the decline, and said the state’s total number of treatment beds has expanded by more than 50% over the past few years. He added while the opioid epidemic isn’t over, a silver lining is emerging.
“It’s especially big news in that it’s decreasing at a time, when the drugs out there are as powerful as they have ever been, and that means we’re getting more people into treatment and keeping more people in recovery,” Beshear noted.”