‘Don’t give up’ After years of decline, Lexington’s overdose deaths are rising fast
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, health and other community leaders Monday urged those suffering from substance use disorder to seek treatment after a jump in the number of overdose deaths.
The number of overdose deaths so far this year has surpassed the 128 drug-related fatalities in 2019.
As of Aug. 17, 130 people have died due to a drug overdose, Gorton said. That’s still down from the heroin- and fentanyl-fueled peak of 187 overdose deaths in 2017. In 2018, there were 161 overdose deaths in Kentucky’s second-largest county.
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated drug use, Gorton said. More people are turning to drugs and alcohol to deal with the stress and uncertainty caused by the pandemic. It’s also harder for those with substance abuse disorder to get treatment.
“In isolation, drug use increases,” Gorton said at a press conference Monday to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. An increase in usage means an increase in overdoses, she said.
Nationally, overdose deaths are also on the rise, data shows. The number of drug overdoses increased 13 percent in the first months of 2020 over the previous year, according to a New York Times analysis. If that trend continues, the country could see the steepest spike in overdose deaths since 2016.
City and local health officials have been watching the number of overdoses since the first coronavirus case was reported in March. Even in May, Fayette County coroner’s office data showed overdoses up 42 percent for the first several months of 2020 compared to 2019.
Gorton and others who spoke Monday urged those who need help to get it and encouraged those who are not struggling with drug addiction to be compassionate to those who are. Stigmatizing drug users will mean less people seek treatment, which means more people will die of an overdose, said John Moses, team leader of harm reduction services at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.
That program, which will celebrate its 5th anniversary on Sept. 4, has provided more than 8,000 people with naloxone, an overdose reversal medication, in the past five years, Moses said.
International Overdose Awareness Day allows those who have lost a family member due to an overdose to publicly mourn their loss. It also raises awareness about substance use disorder and preventable overdose deaths, Moses said.
To recognize those who have lost a loved one to overdoses and to bring awareness to the issue during a time when the public has been focused on a different epidemic, the city is posting silver ribbons along Main Street and other downtown locations. Many parents of children who have died from an overdose are also publicly displaying the ribbons, Gorton said.
One of those ribbons will be for Heath Sanders, who died of heroin overdose in April 2013. Sanders was 32 at the time of his death, said Dale Sanders, Heath Sanders’ father.
“This disease took everything,” Sanders said of substance use disorder. “Everything he owned could be carried in two backpacks.”
Sanders said as a father he had to admit that his son and his family needed help. Substance use disorder affects everyone. But addiction is often viewed with shame. That shame can stop someone from getting help, he said.
“To the addict, reach out and get the help you need,” Sanders said. “To the family of the addict, don’t give up. No matter how many times it takes, keep trying.”
Lexington will also be hosting several events throughout September for National Recovery Month to encourage those who are struggling to get treatment. Those events will soon be available on the city’s web site at www.lexingtonky.gov.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 1:22 PM.
