The Carter County Drug Prevention coalition spends every day educating about and providing assistance to those suffering from the negative effects of substance addiction. There is one angle people might overlook the drug problem, however: faith. The coalition has recently announced a partnership with Calvary Baptist Church, in which the church will host a lunch and discussion on the topic of drug addiction and how the church should respond to people suffering from it. Directo

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Just past a cemetery along a country road, an addiction treatment center called JourneyPure at the River draws hundreds of patients a month who are addicted to opioids and other drugs. They divide their days between therapy sessions, songwriting, communing with horses and climbing through a treetop ropes course. After dinner, they’re driven into town in white vans for 12-step meetings. It is a common regimen at residential treatment programs, but as the

Tennessee’s largest health insurance provider realized it was not part of the solution. It was part of the problem. For the past six years, BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) of Tennessee has been working to curb the number of available opioids, after noting a significant increase in newborns experiencing opioid withdrawal in 2010. In 2019, the health benefits nonprofit is removing Oxycontin, one of the most sought-after opioids on the street, from its list of covered drugs entirely

An east Tennessee nurse practitioner who once prescribed a patient 51 pills a day was allowed to keep her nursing license because of a fundamental error by members of a state nursing board, according to new arguments from state attorneys. Christina Collins, 43, who was once the ninth highest opioid prescriber in Tennessee, admitted during a medical discipline trial earlier this year that she routinely prescribed massive opioid dosages to patients she never actually examined.

Maryville Director of Schools Mike Winstead said vaping, or use of e-cigarettes, among students has been more of a problem in the past year than traditional tobacco use has been over the past 10 years. He’s echoing a national trend. The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory Tues- day urging local restrictions on e-cigarettes, including taxes and indoor bans aimed at deterring young people from using. The advisory came a day after the National Institute for Drug Abuse issued

President Donald Trump signed Congress’ omnibus Farm Bill into law on Thursday, legalizing hemp at the federal level in a move that will surely bolster Tennessee’s burgeoning hemp and CBD industry. The new law will make it possible to buy crop insurance for hemp, erasing some of the risk for farmers who want to expand into the new market, and allow hemp to be moved across state lines, expanding options for exports and sales. “That would be ginormous,” said Billy Wall, who far

Despite legislation intended to curb the opioid epidemic in Tennessee, it’s steadily getting worse. That’s according to the 2018 Knox County Regional Forensic Center drug-related death report, which also covers Anderson County. The 37716 zip code was No. 7 on the list of zip codes with the most drug-related injuries or death that took place at home in 2017. That’s out of all the Knoxville and Anderson County zip codes. 37830, an Oak Ridge zip code, was No. 6. It’s the third

In the first six months since the Syringe Service Program began operations, more than 600 people in Knoxville received free clean syringes they can use to inject drugs. The program aims to reduce the spread of diseases for drug users while also giving them an avenue to get help. "Clean syringes, although they are not the answer to the opioid epidemic, they are certainly a part of it to help us proceed in that direction," said Dr. Kelly Cooper, Director of Medical Strategy and

In the first six months since the Syringe Service Program began operations, more than 600 people in Knoxville received free clean syringes they can use to inject drugs. The program aims to reduce the spread of diseases for drug users while also giving them an avenue to get help. "Clean syringes, although they are not the answer to the opioid epidemic, they are certainly a part of it to help us proceed in that direction," said Dr. Kelly Cooper, Director of Medical Strategy and

The body of a man was found in a vehicle in a back alleyway Friday night after what police believe was an overdose from inhaling an unidentified chemical, according to the Knoxville Police Department. At approximately 9:39 p.m., officers responded to a possible overdose at an address in the 3200 block of Johnston Street, the agency said in a Facebook post. When officers arrived, they spotted a vehicle parked in the back alley with a man’s body inside. A preliminary investigat