Frankfort, Ky. – Using the state’s love for Kentucky basketball, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman recruits two players from the top programs and gives them the role of social media influencers. Drug Prevention Initiative It is aimed at young people.
Social Media Video released Tuesday, University of Kentucky forward Trent Noah and University of Louisville guard J’vonne Hadley. Independent messages bridge the school’s storied rivalry by providing a common theme. This is the importance of being active and disciplined as part of a “better without it” campaign. Their video coincides with the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
“Marches always bring in crazy to the Commonwealth, and this year it also brings a life-saving message. Our young people are “better without it,” Coleman said.
Bluegrass State is using prevention and treatment efforts to fight back Drug addiction epidemic. Kentucky’s drug overdose deaths reached nearly 2,000 in 2023, with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, being blamed as the biggest culprit. It marked a year-to-back decline in second deaths, but the state’s top leader says the fight is not over. Kentucky lawmakers last year created severe penalties for fentanyl dealers when illegal distribution led to fatal overdose.
Coleman launched a drug prevention campaign last month on the college coach’s pitch. The messages from Noah and Hadley are an important part of Coleman’s playbook. In states where top college athletes become common names, he recruits some of them and offers a positive anti-drug message.
“We need the right messengers to reach youth in Kentucky to effectively implement a statewide drug prevention message,” Coleman said in February. “That’s why we’re partnering with some of the biggest names in College Athletics in Kentucky… the younger guys are really good without it.”
In his video, Noah says that continuing to act “helps me to become my best self by being disciplined.” At the end of the day, when he checks off everything he did that day, “it creates the best me,” he says.
In previous videos, University of Kentucky women’s basketball player Cassidy Lowe gives viewers joy and encourages them to find the pursuit they can aim for. She said basketball taught her resilience, accountability and discipline.
“If you’re feeling pressured, I encourage you to stay true to yourself and not to influence you so that others can become something you don’t,” she said in a video released last month.
The drug prevention campaign encourages young people to become independent, make their own decisions and remain informed about the risks of drug use, while highlighting the positive effects of drug-free lifestyles, Coleman’s office said.
Last year, Kentucky’s Opioid Abolition Advisory Committee approved Coleman’s two-year, $3.6 million proposal to establish a youth education campaign. Through name, image, likeness deals and other partnerships, student-athletes, influencers and others promote positive messages about drug-free lifestyles, the office says.
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