A multi-million dollar settlement between Kentucky and two pharmaceutical companies will fund a variety of drug treatment efforts.
Attorney General Jack Conway’s office announced on Monday (Jan. 6) that over $32 million in settlement money will go toward expanding drug treatment centers, treatment scholarships and juvenile drug services.
The Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee will oversee the disbursement of the funds. It was created by Gov. Steve Beshear, and will be chaired by Conway.
The efforts are a response to the growing heroin abuse problem in Kentucky, which is the target of bipartisan legislation introduced in the General Assembly that could charge dealers with homicide in the event of an overdose death.
In 2012, heroin overdose deaths in Kentucky rose by 550 percent.