Drugs
Seeking ‘healing justice’ for Black women who have substance use disorder
LOUISVILLE — The Volunteers of America chapter that includes Kentucky will spend $123,000 over the next nine months to make sure more Black women get access to treatment for substance use disorder.? Volunteers of America Mid-States is using this grant money, which came from the Kentucky Association of Health Plans, to fund a new initiative […]
Beshear says federal government should reclassify marijuana to recognize its medical uses
In a Wednesday letter sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he supports reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III.? That would move marijuana from a DEA designation that says it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” to having “a moderate […]
Judge hears arguments on Kentucky law banning some vaping products
FRANKFORT — Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate heard arguments Monday in a case challenging the constitutionality of a 2024 law banning the sale of some vaping products.? This comes as the defendants — Allyson Taylor, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Secretary of State Michael Adams — filed a motion to […]
Kentucky attorney general names members to opioid advisory commission
The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, tasked with distributing opioid settlement dollars, has new members, Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office announced Tuesday. ? The commission was created by the state legislature in 2021 and has nine voting and two non-voting members.? Kentucky receives installments toward $900 million in settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors. So […]
Kentucky lawyer climbed out of alcoholism, launched a recovery boom
LOUISA — Around the office at Addiction Recovery Care, or ARC, Vanessa Keeton is still known as “Client One” — marking her status as the first client of the first recovery center the organization opened as a group home in Lawrence County. But her official title is vice president of marketing for ARC, where she […]
Coleman unveils $12 million in grants from opioid settlements, repeats syringe exchange criticism
Attorney General Russell Coleman issued details Thursday of more than $12 million in grants from the state’s opioid settlements for prevention, enforcement, treatment and recovery. One of the grants will expand a syringe exchange, and was not supported by Coleman’s appointees to the commission. He confirmed at an event Thursday that he opposes the exchanges. […]
Kentucky attorney general opposes syringe exchanges despite evidence of their efficacy
The leader of the agency that makes grants from the state’s opioid settlements declined to support funding for a syringe-exchange program, saying Attorney General Russell Coleman does not support such programs — which are considered a key tool for reducing harm to people who inject drugs. Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission Director Chris Evans, who […]
For second year in a row, Kentucky overdose deaths decrease?
Overdose deaths in Kentucky decreased in 2023 for the second year in a row, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday as he released the Drug Overdose Fatality Report.? In 2022, 2,135 Kentuckians died from an overdose, marking the first decline since 2018. Ninety percent of those deaths were from opioids and fentanyl.? In 2023, the number […]
Kentucky gets 8,000 Narcan doses as part of Teva settlement
Five sites that distribute naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, received 8,000 new doses this week as part of the state’s settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals, Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Friday.? The doses went to sites in Louisville, Florence, Ashland, Paducah and Frankfort.? Narcan can reverse opioid overdoses. This shipment is the first of four that […]
More addiction patients can take methadone at home, but some states lag behind
Matt Haney’s home in San Francisco isn’t far from a methadone clinic. The 42-year-old state lawmaker has watched people line up early each morning outside the clinic in the Tenderloin, a community long considered the epicenter of the city’s substance use epidemic. His neighbors wait for the daily dose of methadone that relieves their cravings […]
Boone County using opioid settlement funds to create social worker role under the sheriff’s department
Boone County is set to hire three new workers aimed at addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by the opioid crisis. On Tuesday, the Boone County Fiscal Court approved a resolution allowing the use of opioid abatement funds to hire up to three police navigators/social workers — a newly created position. “This is one of the […]
Bill would save Kentucky consumers money, help independent pharmacies survive, says sponsor
Four years after leading the effort to cut corporate middlemen out of the prescription drug business for Kentucky’s Medicaid program, Sen. Max Wise now is taking aim at those same companies’ role in private health insurance. Noting his Senate Bill 50, enacted in 2020, resulted in millions of dollars in savings to Kentucky Medicaid, Wise, […]