Recovery Rally shares message of hope

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear proclaimed September as Recovery Month in Kentucky at a Recovery Rally held  Sept. 5 at the Kentucky State Capitol.

“Today we are celebrating hope, and today we are recommitting to our promise that no one walks the road to recovery alone,” Beshear said on the steps of the Capitol.

Beshear acknowledged that many people have died from a drug overdose, but said if a person is willing to ask for help, it is available for them in Kentucky.

“In Kentucky, we are committed to doing the work to fight this deadly epidemic,” he said. “Because of you, because of so many people that fought for years for the inches that became the feet that became the yards that became the miles of progress, we have had three straight years of declines and overdose deaths in Kentucky.”

According to state reports, Kentucky’s overdose death rate dropped 30.2% in 2024, 8.2% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022, which was the first drop in Kentucky overdose deaths since 2018.

Beshear spoke about the importance of continuing to tear down the stigma associated with addiction — the stigma of asking for help.

He spoke about the services Kentucky offers to help people with addiction recovery, and the value of Narcan, an anti-overdose drug, as a tool to save lives. He said his administration had distributed more than 170,000 doses across the state.

“How many times should you bring somebody back suffering from an overdose?” he asked the large crowd, to applause. “The answer is, every single time.”

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman told the crowd that the Freedom Center in Maryland ranks Kentucky as the seventh best state in the nation for drug rehabilitation.

“So to each of you who are working in this recovery space, that honor belongs to you,” she said. “And from the very bottom of my heart, thank you.”

Van Ingram, director of the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy, said that while the event is a day for celebration, after that is a time to get back to the mission of reducing overdose deaths and making sure treatment is available to any Kentuckian who needs it.

“We still lost 1,400 Kentuckians last year, and that’s way too many,” Ingram said. “So, we all need to stay focused, but this is the one day that I like to celebrate and think of all the thousands of Kentuckians who are in recovery.”