Attorney General Cameron has called the drug epidemic the public health challenge of our lifetime—and he is right. Since 2019, overdose deaths in Kentucky have skyrocketed by over 60%.
This scourge, brought on by the opioid epidemic, exacerbated by deadly fentanyl that kills almost six Kentuckians per day, and continuing with the threat of methamphetamines, must be ended. General Cameron is doing something about it.
Demanding Federal Response
Attorney General Cameron
urged President Biden to classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction,
demanded Secretary of State Antony Blinken designate certain Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and
admonished the Department of Justice for their weak law enforcement response to the fentanyl crisis and offered meaningful recommendations to combat it.
Historic Opioid Agreement
Tackling the drug epidemic has many fronts—the courtroom is not the only one. That’s why Attorney General Cameron has prioritized bringing real dollars into the Commonwealth. To date, he has secured over $900 million from pharmacies, as well as distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers of opioids.
The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission will administer half that money. The other half will go directly to our counties and cities—local money for local solutions. So far, the Commission has awarded over $8 million in grant funding to 24 opioid abatement programs.
Operation Fight Fentanyl
In addition to fighting in the courtroom and bringing dollars into communities, Attorney General Cameron is doing something else—listening.
In February, 2023, Attorney General Cameron launched Operation Fight Fentanyl, an initiative to help tackle the opioid epidemic by hearing directly from law enforcement, legislators, stakeholders, local leaders, and citizens about the impact of illicit fentanyl on our communities. In forums and town halls all across the Commonwealth, he has met with thousands of Kentuckians.