Kentucky Hopes Drugs Can Help Drug Addicts

Kentucky officials are considering using a drug to help drug addicts come clean.

The state legislature approved a law last month that includes an extra $10 million to expand medicated drug treatment programs. The programs include the use of an extended release form of naltrexone that blocks the opioid receptors in the brain. It means opioids like prescription painkillers and heroin would have no effect on addicts, which would help them stop using the drugs.

A handful of addicts in Somerset already use the medication under the brand name Vivitrol as part of a special probation program run by Judge David Tapp. Other states, including West Virginia and Ohio, have adopted similar programs.