This Rural County Is Taking Notes From Iceland’s Drug Prevention Model

Estill County, Kentucky, had the highest overdose death rate in the state in 2021. It’s since dropped to fifth—still grim, but heading in the right direction. What’s changing? A combination of harm reduction and a prevention model borrowed from Iceland, focused less on telling kids to “just say no” and more on giving them something meaningful to do. It’s a small town with no movie theater, no bowling alley, no public transit. So they’re building from what they have: schools, a hospital, and people who stayed. Anabel Peterman with Next City has the full story worth reading.

Anabel Peterman

Next City

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