Kentucky fatal overdoses decreased again in 2024
For the third year in a row, Kentucky saw a decrease in fatal drug overdoses, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.
Still, 1,410 Kentuckians died from an overdose last year, according to the 2024 Drug Overdose Fatality Report, which was released Thursday.
'That's 1,410 too many people that we lost,' Beshear said. 'These are people's friends and family members, each one a child of God taken from us far too soon.'
In 2023, Kentucky had 1,984 overdose deaths, which was a decrease from the 2,135 lost in 2022.
Black Kentuckians also saw a decrease in 2024, a reversal from previous years. In 2024, 170 Black Kentuckians died from a drug overdose, a decrease from 259 in 2022 and 264 in 2023.
The report does not break down deaths across all races. It shows 1,216 of the 2024 deaths were white Kentuckians, 170 were Black and 24 were of an 'other' race.
This decrease means 'that this good news has come for all of our Kentucky communities,' Beshear said.
Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is still a key culprit in killing Kentuckians. Fentanyl was present in 62% of the 2024 deaths and methamphetamine was present in 51%, according to the report.
'Those two continue to be the most prevalent and ultimately most deadly drugs found in overdoses,' Beshear said.
The counties with the highest rates of fatal drug overdoses were Lee, Knott, Breathitt, Powell and Estill, according to the report — all Eastern Kentucky counties.
The age range most affected were Kentuckians 35-44, with 379 deaths in that age range. Five children aged 4 or under died from drug overdose in 2024; fewer than 5 died between the ages of 5-14.
Van Ingram, the executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, said 'we still lost 1,400 Kentuckians, and so our work's not finished, not by a long shot, it's just time to get back to work.'
Beshear cited prevention efforts such as Narcan distribution, syringe exchange programs and treatment recovery programs in driving the numbers down.
The report says that for 2024:
$29,754,033 was distributed in grant and pass-through funding from the Office of Drug Control Policy.
170,000 doses of Narcan were distributed.
84 syringe exchange program sites served 27,799 unique participants.
142,312 Kentuckians received addiction services through Medicaid.
17,399 Kentuckians received treatment paid by Kentucky Opioid Response Effort.
17,984 Kentuckians received recovery services like house assistance, employment services, transportation and basic need services in their community paid by Kentucky Opioid Response Effort.
3,329 incoming calls were made to the KY HELP Call Center with 14,087 outgoing follow up calls.
21 counties now certified as Recovery Ready Communities representing 1,495,518 Kentuckians.
Kentuckians living with addiction can call Kentucky's help line at 833-859-4357. Narcan, which can help reverse overdoses, is available at pharmacies for sale and through some health departments and outreach programs for free.
The legislature decriminalized fentanyl test strips in 2023, meaning Kentuckians can use them to legally check substances for the presence of fentanyl.
'Today's news should be very meaningful to all Kentuckians, and it ought to tell us that an epidemic that arose in our time, we should be able to defeat in our time,' Beshear said. 'This is not something we should leave for our kids and our grandkids. This is something we should continue to strive to do better, better, better at addressing.'
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