First Statewide Prescription Drug Abuse Summit to be Held Today

Leaders from the fields of law enforcement, education, and medicine will meet today in Lexington, for the first Statewide Prescription Drug Abuse Summit in Kentucky. The issue has become a very serious concern across the state, as the number of people dying from prescription overdoses has increased. In fact, more people now die in Kentucky from prescription overdoses than are killed on the state's highways each year.

Today's meeting is a collaborative effort between the U-S attorneys for the Western District of Kentucky and the Eastern District of Kentucky, as well as Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. Governor Steve Beshear and University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto are also scheduled to participate in the meeting.

Organizers of the event say they hope to develop collaborations and strategies to help deal with the problem.