fentanyl

Murray State University held a panel discussion Tuesday on the dangers of illicit fentanyl and how federal, state and local governments are combating the opioid epidemic through three main strategies – prevention, treatment, and enforcement.

Drug overdose deaths in Kentucky fell by 5% in 2022, offering a sign of hope that treatment efforts are relieving an addiction epidemic that remains a public health crisis, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.

Fentanyl test strips have technically been illegal under state law, but House Bill 353 changes that. As a result, more community organizations are expected to start distributing them.

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of overdose deaths in Kentucky. The state Office of Drug Control Policy says fentanyl was involved in over 70% of the 2,250 overdose deaths in Kentucky in 2021.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron says President Joe Biden's administration has failed to secure the Southern border, and is responsible for the massive influx of illicit fentanyl into the United States.

Fentanyl test strips count as illegal drug paraphernalia under Kentucky law. A proposed bill would change that and expand access to them to prevent overdoses.

Leadership for the Paducah Police Department say an 18-month investigation has led to the arresting and indicting 23 people from western Kentucky and southern Illinois for charges related to alleged fentanyl trafficking.

The state report shows that fentanyl accounted for more than 70% of all drug overdoses.

"He's breathing. He's talking. He's not snoring. He's saying, 'Please, please get off of me, I can't breathe.' That is not a fentanyl overdose. That's someone begging to breathe," an expert testified.

Officials in the Ohio Valley say recent increases in overdose deaths are largely due to fentanyl, and experts believe most of the powerful synthetic…