By Joe Sonka | Louisville Courier Journal
The number of Kentuckians killed by a fatal drug overdose decreased slightly last year for the first time since 2018, according to a new annual report from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
According to the agency’s 2022 report, 2,135 Kentucky residents died from a drug overdose last year, a 5% decrease from the 2,250 fatalities in 2021, which was an all-time record.
As has been the case in recent years, the powerful opioid fentanyl was the main driver in fatal overdoses, with the drug present in the toxicology reports of more than 72% of these deaths.
Here’s a closer look at the findings of the report:
While down, fatalities have still doubled over decade
Though drug overdose fatalities dropped by 5% last year, the 2,135 total deaths from 2022 remain the second-highest in Kentucky’s history and dramatically higher than four years earlier, when 1,247 died in 2018.