Report: Pandemic a role in Kentucky's record overdose deaths

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Fatal drug overdoses in Kentucky — an ongoing scourge that has ravaged communities in the state — surged nearly 50% last year and isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was a “major contributing factor,” a state report concludes.

More than 1,964 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses in 2020, according to the report from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and the Office of Drug Control Policy. The official count easily eclipsed the state's prior record level of fatal drug overdoses and mirrored a national increase in overdose deaths, the report said.

Kentucky's rising death toll was driven by opioid abuse. A key factor was the prevalence of fentanyl — involved in about 71% of the state's overdose deaths for the year, according to the report, issued Tuesday. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid increasingly added to other illicit drugs to boost potency.

Kentucky has long been plagued by high rates of addiction to opioid painkillers. But the Office of Drug Control Policy pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a “major contributing factor” in the surge in deaths.

“The interruption of routine for those in recovery, the sense of isolation, economic concerns and anxiety all contributed to the dramatic increase recorded,” the report said.

Matt Brown, a senior vice president for Addiction Recovery Care, a private behavioral health organization that provides drug treatment and recovery services in eastern and central Kentucky, said the pandemic created a "storm that helped to fuel a fire that was already burning.” Demand for services dropped for months after the virus hit as people hunkered down, he said.

“Addiction is a disease of isolation," Brown said. "And the antidote to addiction is healthy connections and healthy relationships. ......