Kentucky AG unveils statewide drug prevention plans

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman unveiled plans Tuesday to create a statewide drug prevention program, saying the youth-focused initiative would fill a hole in the Bluegrass State’s fight against an addiction epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives.

Coleman presented the plan’s details to a state commission, which unanimously approved his request for a $3.6 million investment over two years to implement it.

“With over one million Kentuckians under the age of 18, we are going to put every single dollar to good use,” Coleman said. “Our parents and grandparents schooled us that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I fully believe this initiative lives up to that age-old sentiment.”

Substance abuse is a deadly scourge in Kentucky though there are signs of progress in fighting back.

A total of 1,984 Kentuckians died last year from a drug overdose, down 9.8% from the previous year, Gov. Andy Beshear announced in June, citing an annual report. Fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid — remained the biggest culprit, accounting for 79% of overdose deaths in 2023, according to the report.

Building a statewide prevention initiative aimed at keeping young people away from deadly substances will plug a “gaping hole” in efforts to combat the drug threat, the Republican attorney general said.

“We live at a time when as little as one fentanyl pill can, and is, killing our neighbors,” Coleman added. ”We live at a time where no margin of error exists, where there is no such thing as safe experimentation with drugs.”

He said the campaign, called “Better Without It,” will spread its message to young people through social media and streaming platforms, on college campuses and through partnerships with influencers. The initiative also will promote school-based programs.



Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman speaks in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)