The Office of Drug Control Policy says 230 people died from heroin overdoses in 2013, a 60 percent increase from 2012. In 2011, 22 people in Kentucky died from heroin overdoses.
State lawmakers failed to pass a bill this year that would have paid more for substance abuse treatment and strengthened sentences for heroin traffickers.
State Sen. John Schickel has filed a bill for the 2015 legislative session that would increase criminal penalties for heroin traffickers. State Rep. Tom Burch says he is working on a bill that would focus more on treatment programs than incarceration.
It cost taxpayers $21,798 a year to incarcerate someone versus $6,000 a year to treat someone for substance abuse.
