NEWS RELEASE
FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 27, 2016) – Attorney General Andy Beshear is being recognized by the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility with its 2016 Leadership Award for his work to fight drunken driving and underage drinking.
The Foundation is a national nonprofit funded by America’s leading distillers. Beshear is one of six state attorneys general receiving the award. Other AGs include: Arkansas AG Leslie Rutledge; Connecticut AG George Jepsen; Rhode Island AG Peter Kilmartin; South Dakota AG Marty Jackley; and Utah AG Sean Reyes.
“I’m honored to be recognized with my fellow AGs who share our mission,” Beshear said. “We are focused on addressing the persistent challenges our families face, and one of those is better addressing Kentucky’s addiction epidemic. Every time our children enter a vehicle, they are at risk of being harmed by a driver under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.”
Beshear said that while the prevalence of alcohol among drivers has declined by nearly 80 percent from 2007 to 2014, Kentucky is seeing a dramatic increase in drugged driving on Kentucky roads.
In March, Beshear joined with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the Unified Prosecutorial System in Kentucky to offer a three-day training to education prosecutors and law enforcement officials on the dramatic increase of Kentucky drivers under the influence. The annual training, supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is coordinated through the Attorney General’s Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program.
The National Association of Attorneys General recently named Beshear co-chair of its Substance Abuse Committee with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
As part of his fight against addiction, earlier this year Beshear recommended to lawmakers 15 statewide recovery facilities and drug centers to receive funds recovered from the Purdue Pharma case. To date, Beshear has presented nearly $6.5 million in funding to 12 of these recovery facilities and drug treatment centers.
Beshear will be in Morehead Thursday afternoon to present funding to Pathways, an alcohol and addiction recovery center that serves 10 eastern Kentucky counties.