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TENNESSEE OVERDOSE PREVENTION

Educating, Implementing and Developing Resources for TN's Good Samaritan and Naloxone Laws

Lights of Hope Event Shines Light on Addiction and Overdoses

BRISTOL, Tenn. — At the third annual Lights of Hope event Sunday evening, people told stories of addiction, learned about ways to fight the ongoing opioid epidemic and held candles to remember their loved ones who are still suffering from addiction or had their lives claimed by it. About 30 people attended the event, which was hosted by the Addicts Family and the Sullivan County Anti-Drug Coalition and was held at Anderson Park from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. “It’s to raise awareness

How the DEA Plans to Tackle Opioid Abuse, Crime in Knoxville

Knoxville News Sentinel USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE Knoxville will be the 13th city to pilot a program designed to attack drug abuse and violent crime from all sides, the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration announced Tuesday. At an event at the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, DEA Louisville Special Agent In Charge D. Christopher Evans announced Knoxville will pilot the DEA’s 2-year-old “360 Strategy,” which he called “a model for communit

Blackburn Says She’s ‘Open’ to Legalizing Medical Marijuana

Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn says she is “open” to legalizing medical marijuana, going a step beyond her Democratic opponent on the topic in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race. While Blackburn and former Gov. Phil Bredesen dodged a question about medical marijuana during their first debate Tuesday, both addressed the issue later in follow-up questions from USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee. “Marsha believes legalizing drugs wo

270 Pain Pills Per Person: Tennessee County Under Investigation by DEA

CLAY COUNTY, Tenn. (WZTV) - They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but one Tennessee town may disagree. Clay County, Tennessee, has received national attention after a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation revealed its pharmacies purchased enough drugs last year to provide 270 pain pills for every man, woman, and child living in Clay County. It's the job of DEA agents to monitor how controlled substances move throughout the country. Their databases red flag

On a Mission

In 2015, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ranked Tennessee’s Campbell County third in the nation for opioids prescribed per capita. That wasn’t the future Dr. Geogy Thomas, Knoxville ’15, envisioned 18 years ago when he moved to tiny Jellico, located in Campbell County near the Kentucky border. Fresh out of medical training in California, he had planned to be a missionary overseas with his wife. First, though, they detoured to Jellico to pay off his student loans through

Increasing Incidents

When Alex MacPherson, a corporal with the Columbia Police Department, rushed into the bathroom, he saw a young woman in the bathtub and her boyfriend frantically splashing water on her, trying to revive her. MacPherson grabbed the vial of Narcan he carries and sprayed it up her nose. “Within 30 to 45 seconds, she began breathing spontaneously, and within a minute or so she had opened her eyes and began regaining consciousness,” MacPherson says. MacPherson had participated in

Commited

One word seems to sum up the Center for Addiction Science at UT Health Science Center: committed. Committed to helping the addicted. Committed to researching addiction. Committed to building community with medical professionals. In the fall of 2016, the center received a prestigious national designation for that commitment. It was named the first Center of Excellence in Addiction Medicine in the country by the Addiction Medicine Foundation for combining education, clinical ca

Standing up to Big Pharma

Imagine if the state of Tennessee was almost completely devoid of crime. It sounds far-fetched. And, it is. But it isn’t totally impossible. A majority of crimes committed in the state—large and small—stem from the opioid epidemic. And, the opioid problem is worse in East Tennessee than anywhere else in the state. Knox County ranks third in the state for opioid-related deaths, with 294 dying last year and more than a 186 by the middle of August 2018, according to the county’s

Own Your Truth

How do you find the light amidst all the darkness? Own your truth, know you are capable of overcoming and be a message of hope. Repeat. I grew up a child of divorce, the daughter of an addict and the survivor of a parent’s suicide. My truth. I was 4 years old when my parents divorced. My dad had struggled with an alcohol and a prescription opioid addiction for many years. Throughout my childhood, my dad wasn’t around very much. I thought that my dad chose drugs over me. Time

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