LEXINGTON, Ky. — The number of drug overdose deaths declined last year in Kentucky for the first time since 2018, according to preliminary data.
Fatal overdoses dropped 5% between 2021 and 2022, the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center found, using data from Kentucky’s Office of Vital Statistics. In 2021, a record 2,257 people died of a drug overdose in the commonwealth. Last year, that toll dropped to 2,127, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.
“While we find hope in the decline in drug overdose deaths, this remains a public health crisis that we must continue to work together to address,” the governor said in a news release.