Gov. Beshear Celebrates Four Straight Years of Declining Overdose Deaths

2025 marked the lowest number of overdose deaths recorded since 2014.

Shutterstock photo.

(Frankfort, Ky.) - Gov. Andy Beshear and Team Kentucky are celebrating four straight years of declines in overdose deaths. 

Important programs that led to the success include addiction services through Medicaid and the Opioid Response Effort, Narcan distribution, grant funding to addiction treatment organizations, Recovery Ready Communities, reentry services, and efforts by the Kentucky State Police (KSP) and law enforcement to remove dangerous drugs from Kentucky communities.

“My administration is fighting for the inches that become the miles of progress to save more lives and protect more families from the heartbreak and pain that comes with addiction,” said Gov. Beshear. “Kentucky has been one of the states hit hardest by opioids, yet we are showing the nation what’s possible by working together. From Medicaid to supporting our recovery partners, law enforcement and more, every piece of this fight is critical to continue the progress we’re making together.”

Kentucky’s Success in Fighting Addiction
Gov. Beshear attributed the state’s progress to the following efforts:  

• More than $29 million was distributed in grant and pass-through funding from the Office of Drug Control Policy;
• 182,810 doses of Narcan were distributed;
• 82 syringe exchange program sites served 25,543 unique participants;
• More than 137,000 Kentuckians received addiction services through Medicaid;
• More than 19,100 Kentuckians received addiction treatment paid for by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort;
• More than 29,900 Kentuckians received recovery services (housing assistance, employment services, transportation, basic need services, etc.) in their community paid for by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort;
• 23 Kentuckians sought treatment through the Kentucky State Police Angel Initiative;
• 3,005 incoming calls were made to the KY HELP Call Center with 19,138 outgoing follow-up calls;
• More than 52,800 school-age students participated in substance use prevention curriculum supported by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort;
• In November of last year, the Governor took action to classify 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as a Schedule I narcotic, making it illegal to sell, possess or distribute any isolated or concentrated forms of the form of kratom in the state. This followed Gov. Beshear’s similar move to schedule bromazolam, or “designer Xanax,” as a Schedule I narcotic. These actions give Kentucky law enforcement the ability to make arrests for sales or possession; and
• In September 2025, Gov. Beshear awarded more than $1.4 million in federal grant funding to nine state and local agencies to fight drug trafficking through the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.

After more applications were approved in March, 39 counties are now certified as Recovery Ready Communities, representing more than 2.1 million Kentuckians. 

Locally, Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties are certified Recovery Ready Communities. 

The certification program offers local officials, recovery advocates and concerned citizens the opportunity to evaluate their community’s current addiction treatment programs and interventions in a framework designed to maximize positive public health outcomes. Learn more at rrcky.org.

To view the 2025 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report, click here.