BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – According to the Centers for Disease Control, overdose deaths decreased in 2023 for the first time since 2018.
Now we’re speaking with one local leader out of Mercer County who is focused on continuing that decrease trend.
Greg Puckett, the executive director for Community Connections says he believes a contributing factor to the decrease is the amount of Narcan being found in communities.
Puckett’s non-profit helps to distribute Narcan within communities and help with Narcan training. Puckett says he’s met with West Virginia Senators Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito recently to discuss a variety of issues including mental health.
Puckett says mental health is closely related to drug abuse. He adds that he’ll be advocating to keep funding coming from the state and federal government to help keep overdoses on a downward trend.
“If you keep the money status quo and things moving at a certain level, you’re going to keep those reductions but if you back off on that and you stop the investment. Then your numbers are almost always going to go up and they’re going to go up faster than before,” said Puckett.
Puckett is also a Mercer County Commissioner and says the county has $2.4 million from opioid settlements at their disposal. He says the county is looking to use those funds for not just overdose prevention, but also infrastructure which he says is another contributing factor to people turning to drug use.
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