Beshear: Drug overdose deaths fell in Kentucky in 2022

WUKY | By Karyn Czar

Published April 21, 2023 at 7:35 AM EDT

Gov. Andy Beshear says drug overdose deaths in Kentucky fell by 5% in 2022. He said Thursday it's a sign of hope that treatment efforts are helping relieve an addiction epidemic that remains a public health crisis. Karyn Czar has details.

The governor says it was the first decline in four years. But overdose fatalities in Kentucky surpassed 2,000 again last year. According to the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, 2,127 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses in 2022. That's down from 2,257 in the prior year. The drug
addiction issue has risen to the forefront of this year’s race for governor in Kentucky.