Drug overdose deaths rose nearly 15 percent in Kentucky from 2020 to 2021, according to a report published Monday by the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy (KODCP).
Kentucky recorded 2,250 fatal overdoses during 2021 – the first time the commonwealth has recorded over 2,000 overdose deaths — with fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, found in 72.8 percent (1,639) of overdose deaths, up 16 percent from 2020 when the drug was present in 1,413 fatal overdoses.
“We’ve never seen one drug this prevalent in the toxicology reports of overdose fatalities,” Van Ingram, Executive Director of the KODCP, told news outlets. “I talked to a drug task force director last week who said, ‘We’re finding fentanyl in everything.’”
Other drugs were present in fatal overdoses, led by methamphetamine, which was found in 47.8 percent (1,075) of overdose deaths, up 32.9 percent from 2020 when meth was involved in 809 fatal overdoses.
Other drugs found in fatal overdoses, include:
- Gabapentin was present in 22.4 percent (509) of overdose deaths, a 29 percent increase from 2020 (390).
- Morphine was present in 13.7 percent (309) of overdose deaths, down 39.8 percent from 2020 (513).
- Alprazolam (Xanax) was present in 9.4 percent (211) of overdose deaths, down 12.4 percent from 2020 (241).
- Oxycodone was present in 8.8 percent (198) of overdose deaths, a 1.5 percent decrease from 2020 (201).
- Heroin was present in 4.1 percent (93) of overdose deaths, a 51.8 percent decrease from 2020 (193).
Grayson and bordering counties’ overdose numbers
Grayson County recorded 10 overdose deaths in 2021, according to the report, an increase of two fatal overdoses from 2020. Hardin County, with a population of about 110,000, had 46 overdose deaths, the most of any adjoining county, and 15 more than the 31 fatal overdoses recorded in 2020.
Breckinridge County had seven overdose deaths, the same number as 2020. Hart County reported seven fatal overdoses, up from five reported in 2020.
Butler and Ohio counties each had fewer than five overdose deaths, the same as 2020. Edmonson County had fewer than five overdose deaths last year; in 2020 it had zero fatal overdoses.
Although the 14.5 percent increase in overdose deaths from 2020 to 2021 is significant, a larger amplification of overdose deaths occurred concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic, as the 1,964 fatal overdoses in 2020 was a 49.2 percent increase from the 1,316 overdose deaths reported in 2019.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
