Hope in Eastern Kentucky: Lessons From Previous Decreases in Drug Overdose Deaths

The COVID-19 pandemic created many new challenges for people struggling with substance use and the stakeholders working to support them, as evidenced by the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicating a nationwide increase in drug overdose deaths between 2019 and 2020.

The numbers were particularly concerning in Kentucky, which experienced a nearly 50% increase during that time. In the early days of the pandemic, Kentucky officials acted quickly to remove barriers to care ― relaxing telehealth regulations and ensuring addiction treatment providers could remain open for business. Even so, pandemic-related stress and isolation, coupled with a significant increase in illicit fentanyl and its analogues, created a “perfect storm” for Kentucky’s addiction crisis.

Now, with more people beginning to seek treatment for the substance use issues exacerbated by the pandemic, Kentucky and other states disproportionately impacted by addiction are working to reverse these alarming trends ― and stakeholders are looking to a comprehensive report published earlier this year for guidance.

The study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago and the University of Kentucky Center of Excellence, examines the decrease in drug overdose deaths that Eastern Kentucky counties experienced between 2013 and 2017 ― shedding light on the wide-ranging strategies and policies that should be pursued not just in the Commonwealth but in other areas experiencing high rates of drug overdose mortality.

This session will include insights from the team that conducted the research, as well as key individuals who have been working on the frontlines of Eastern Kentucky's addiction crisis.