According to a state report (PDF) released in late July, drug overdose deaths in the state of Kentucky decreased by 19 to 1,004. This is the first time the state has experienced a decline in a decade. In recent years, the state has implemented a number of program and policy initiatives, including prescription drug monitoring programs, and expanded substance abuse treatment programs. State officials report that these initiatives may account for the decline. However, officials also report that there has been a drastic resurgence in the use of heroin in both rural and urban areas, particularly in the state’s southeastern counties; heroin-related overdose deaths increased by 550% from their 2011 levels. 

The most common drugs in fatal overdose cases were alprazolam (Xanax^®), morphine, and the painkillers hydrocodone and oxycodone. Heroin was detected in nearly 20% of overdose victims’ bodies, representing 143 deaths (an increase from just 22 deaths in 2011). The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that in 2013 there have already been 29 heroin overdose deaths in Fayette County alone (seven more deaths than all of 2012). 

Accidental drug overdose — from both prescription and illicit drugs — remains the leading major cause of accidental death in Kentucky at nearly 80%. That figure represents more than twice the number of motor vehicle collisions, the second major cause of accidental deaths in the state.