Nearly $6 million in funding has been approved to continue Kentucky’s first-ever statewide youth drug prevention effort, “Better Without It” (BWI).
Attorney General Russell Coleman announced that the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (KYOAAC) approved $5.8 million for BWI’s youth-led engagements and in-person programming in schools and community organizations across the commonwealth.
Launched last year, phase one of BWI made high-profile partnerships with student athletes like University of Louisville basketball player J’Vonne Hadley, the University of Kentucky’s Trent Noah and UK basketball coach Mark Pope.
To date, there have been more than seven million views of “Better Without It” content on Instagram, Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN streaming, the attorney general’s office said.
“We’ve seen the BWI initiative work. Now we’re activating a full court press to get this lifesaving message to more places our kids are being influenced,” Coleman stated. “Prevention programs like ‘Better Without It’ just don’t reduce statistics; they save lives, families, and futures.”
In 2022, the KYOAAC was established by the General Assembly to distribute the commonwealth’s share of more than $1 billion of settlement funds from lawsuits against certain manufacturers and distributors of opioids. The commission is made up of 11 members, nine voting and two non-voting.
“The commission has adopted nationally recognized principles for allocating funds, including using evidence to guide spending,” according to the attorney general’s office.
(Photo l-r: Commissioner Darren Allen and Attorney General Russell Coleman address the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission requesting funds for phase two of “Better Without It”)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
