Heroin-related deaths in Kentucky have spiked sharply in recent years – from 22 in 2011, to 143 in 2012 and 230 in 2013. Many users are transitioning to heroin as their drug of choice as legislation and restrictions have made prescription opiates harder to obtain.

KET’s One to One addresses the growing heroin epidemic in an in-depth conversation with Congressman Andy Barr and Michael Botticelli, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The episode airs Sunday, May 24 at 1 pm/noon on KET and Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30/6:30 pm on KET2.

Botticelli was sworn in as Director of National Drug Control Policy in February. Prior to that, he served as deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from 2012-2015. Before his tenure with the ONDCP, Botticelli served as Director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where he expanded innovative and nationally recognized prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery services for citizens of that state.

Congressman Andy Barr (KY-6) recently announced the formation of the Sixth Congressional District Drug Abuse Task Force in response to the growing drug epidemic in central and eastern Kentucky, regions that have seen some of the highest statewide rates of heroin abuse.

One to One is a KET production.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, serving more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.

Contact:

Todd Piccirilli
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
859-258-7242
tpiccirilli@ket.org