Overdose deaths declining nationwide, in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – New data from the CDC shows that overdose deaths are dropping nationwide, down three percent from December of 2022 to December of 2023. In Kentucky, those tragedies have reduced by nearly eight percent, well out-pacing the national average.

“We know that pre-covid, Kentucky’s overdose deaths were declining year after year,” said Matt Brown, who serves as chief administrative officer with ARC Recovery Centers.

As a pandemic spread across the commonwealth, so too did waves of tragedy stemming from a different source.

“In February of 2020, we had days that our ambulances weren’t making a run,” said Captain Seth Lockard with the Lexington Fire Department. “Then when covid happened, that went to 6-7 overdoses a day.”

But the latest CDC data indicates both Kentucky and the country may be turning a corner.

“Kentucky is more than twice the national average in terms of a reduction in overdose deaths,” Brown said.

Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn told WKYT that Lexington’s decline during the same period is even sharper than the state and the nation. The urban county is down from 210 overdose deaths in 2022 to 179 in 2023, a 14.76% decrease which reaches a mark that is Lexington’s lowest since at least before the pandemic.

“It kind of reinforces the work we’re doing,” Lockard said. “You may have a bad day or a bad week. But when you see a report like this, it kind of recharges the batteries a little bit.”

Seth Lockard captains the community paramedicine program with Lexington Fire.

“Within 24 to 72 hours after an overdose, we’re knocking on individuals’ doors – to provide them the support they need,” said Lockard.

They’ve purchased thousands of Narcan doses, initiated a leave behind program and created partnerships to get naloxone into more areas of the community.

“Narcan is more readily available,” said Brown. “People in Kentucky now know that treatment on-demand exists.”

But these community stakeholders know the work takes everyone – from first responders to the criminal justice system to treatment centers, and beyond.

“Addiction – it affects the entire person, so it takes a comprehensive effort,” Brown said.

Fortunately, Matt Brown with ARC feels the state has all the tools it needs to continue this trend.

“It’ll be critically important that we don’t spike the football too early, because there are lives depending on it.”

Kentucky’s Office for Drug Control Policy is set to release its own annual data on overdoses in June. The state also has a new website called findnaloxone.ky.gov to help people in need of Narcan with finding it.

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