Gov. Beshear highlights downward trend of drug overdose deaths

(ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — Overdose death rates in Kentucky are trending downward for the second year in a row. Governor Andy Beshear, released the 2023 Drug Overdose Fatality Report on Thursday.
The numbers reflecting a 10% decrease from the year before.

“We’re celebrating more lives saved, the sad fact is we still lost 1,984 Kentuckians to a fatal overdose last year,” says Gov. Beshear.

As he unveiled the report, Governor Beshear highlighted that while overdose deaths are trending downward, a significant amount of Kentuckians are no longer with us.

“This last year, fentanyl accounted for 79.1% and methamphetamine accounted for 55.2% of overdose deaths,” said Beshear.

That’s because fentanyl was found in over 1,500 of drug overdose deaths.
The group most affected, those between the ages of 35-44 with the highest number of drug overdose deaths in 2023 with 571, although in comparison to the previous year, there was a decrease of about 13%.

“Kentucky not only saw a decrease in overdose deaths in 2022, 2023 was better than 2022. Some of the best news of this report is how much better we were than the rest of the country,” added Beshear.

And although the numbers are trending downward, one group that saw an increase in drug overdose deaths were Black Kentuckians.
With 264 losing their lives in 2023, in comparison to 259 in 2022.

“We announced that Kentucky’s counter drug program has helped save lives by supporting the seizure of 265,170 fentanyl pills and 208.3 pounds of fentanyl during the 2023 federal fiscal year as you all know, that’s enough to kill every single Kentuckian,” added Beshear.

Counties that saw the most activity regarding higher counts of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl, included Fayette County with 160.
Beshear adding that while there has been some progress, there’s still much work to be done, but is proud of the work that is continuing to be done.

“Kentucky leads the country in residential drug and alcohol treatment beds per capita. It’s not even close, we have more beds, more opportunities than any other state in the country. We have recorded the three lowest recidivism rates the state has seen in over a decade,” also said Beshear.

Beshear recently announced the website, secondchance.ky.gov that helps find resources for those continuing on the path to recovery, finding a job or getting an education.