Close In this March 18, 2019, file photo, James Carroll, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, speaks at Volunteers of America as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks on in Louisville, Ky. Drug overdose deaths surged by nearly 50% last year in Kentucky, where opioid addiction mixed with pandemic-related stress to set a new record for tragedy and grief from a crisis that continues to ravage the region, a new report said Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Michael Clevenger | Courier Journal via AP By BRUCE SCHREINER The Associated Press Aug 4, 2021