Kentucky's 'Better Without It' anti-drug campaign recruits college basketball players to reach youth

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Tapping into his state's love of college basketball, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has recruited two players from top programs and given them roles as social media influencers to promote his drug prevention initiative aimed at young people.

Social media videos released Tuesday feature University of Kentucky forward Trent Noah and University of Louisville guard J’Vonne Hadley. The separate messages bridge their schools' storied rivalry by offering a common theme — the importance of staying active and disciplined as part of the “Better Without It” campaign. Their videos coincide with the start of the NCAA basketball tournament.

“March always brings madness to the commonwealth, and this year it also brings a lifesaving message: our young people are ‘Better Without It,’” Coleman said.

The Bluegrass State is using prevention and treatment efforts to fight back against a drug addiction epidemic. Kentucky's drug overdose death toll reached nearly 2,000 in 2023, with fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid — blamed as the biggest culprit. It marked a second straight annual decline in deaths, but the state's top leaders say the fight is far from over. Kentucky lawmakers last year created tougher penalties for fentanyl dealers when their illicit distribution results in a fatal overdose.

Coleman launched the drug prevention campaign last month with pitches from college coaches. The messages from Noah and Hadley are a key part of Coleman's playbook. In a state where top college athletes become household names, he's enlisting some of them to deliver positive, anti-drug messages.

“To reach Kentucky’s young people with an effective statewide drug prevention message, we need the right messengers," Coleman said in February. "That’s why we’re partnering with some of the biggest names in Kentucky’s college athletics to tell ... young people they are truly better without it.”

In his video, Noah says staying active “helps me to be my best self by keeping me disciplined.” At day's end, when checking off all the things he's done that day, "it creates the best me,” he says.

In a previous video, University of Kentucky women's basketball player Cassidy Rowe urges viewers to find pursuits that give them joy and that they can work toward. She said basketball taught her resilience, accountability and discipline — traits she applies to her everyday life.

“If you’re feeling pressured, I would just encourage you to stay true to yourself and not let others influence you to become something that you’re not,” she said in the video released last month.

The drug prevention campaign encourages young people to be independent, make their own decisions and stay informed about the dangers of drug use, while highlighting the positive effects of a drug-free lifestyle, Coleman's office said.

Last year, the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission approved Coleman's two-year, $3.6 million proposal to establish the youth education campaign. Through name, image and likeness deals and other partnerships, student-athletes, influencers and others will promote positive messages about a drug-free lifestyle, the office said.