Kentucky has seen drops in overdose deaths for three years running, but the latest data are by far the most encouraging.
"We've been waiting for a day like this for a long time," Executive Director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy Van Ingram said Thursday. "In '19, '20, and '21 when the pandemic was firing up and the numbers just kept climbing and climbing and climbing and we saw fentanyl on all of our streets... it was really disheartening. But today shows the efforts we've been making will work. Over time, they will work."
Overdose fatalities dropped by 30.2 percent overall last year, according to the new report. Unlike with previous declines, the new numbers show overdose deaths also fell among Kentucky's black residents by 37.3 percent.
Gov. Andy Beshear credited frontline advocates for helping broaden the impact of the declines.
"Last year, when when the report overall was good news, there was still really tough news for our African-American communities. I want to give the majority of the credit to that decrease to the groups that work in those communities, the leaders in those communities that saw that report, saw what was possible, and redoubled their their efforts," he said.
Still, Kentucky saw 1,410 overdose deaths in 2024, and officials caution lots of work remains ahead to continue seeing overdose declines this large.