During Recovery Month, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted Kentucky's progress in fighting addiction, pointing to four straight years of declines in overdose deaths in the commonwealth.
"Addiction has devastated our communities – we've lost too many folks to this disease. That is our past. But we will not accept it as our future," Beshear said. "Here in Kentucky, we've shown what is possible. We've led the way by letting folks know it's OK to ask for help, by increasing recovery resources and by working to get dangerous drugs off our streets. We're committed to continuing this progress until that overdose death number gets to zero."
In April, the Governor announced overdose deaths fell for the fourth year in a row, with a 22.9% decrease in 2025 compared with the previous year and a 50.8% decrease from 2021. 2025 saw the lowest number of overdose deaths recorded in the commonwealth since 2014.
Team Kentucky has certified 42 Recovery Ready Communities, representing more than 2.2 million Kentuckians with access to free treatment resources in their home county. In 2022, the state launched FindRecoveryHousingNowKY.org and the 988 mental health crisis hotline. In 2023, Beshear announced treatment beds had increased 50% since he took office in 2019.
In 2024, the administration launched FindNaloxone.ky.gov and SecondChance.ky.gov. Since 2019, Team Kentucky has distributed over 915,000 two-dose naloxone kits. In 2025, the Governor announced the emergency designation of bromazolam as a Schedule 1 controlled substance and moved to classify 7-hydroxymitragynine as a Schedule I narcotic.
This month, Beshear awarded more than $2.1 million in federal grant funding to 17 state and local agencies to fight drug trafficking. Over the past year, Team Kentucky provided more than 33,000 Kentuckians with addiction treatment services through the Kentucky Overdose Response Effort. So far in 2026, Kentucky State Police have seized more than $12.1 million worth of drugs, including $1 million worth of fentanyl.
On Aug. 31, Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear lit the Governor's Mansion purple for Overdose Awareness Day, and on Sept. 3 the Governor presented a proclamation recognizing September as Recovery Month.