Click here to listen on Spotify The data is clear: 18-25 is a critical time for substance use and mental health interventions. This is why programs implemented on college campuses have significant impacts. But that isn’t to say these interventions are easy to launch. My guests this month are Dr.
Category: Harm Reduction
(Podcast) Saving Lives in Jail: Naloxone Vending Machines, MAT, and Mental Health at Davidson County
Click here to listen on Spotify As we’ve discussed many times on this show, the criminal justice system has long since become the primary point of contact for substance use disorder, especially in Tennessee. My guest this month is Eric Bauder, Deputy Chief of Corrections for the Davidson County Sheriff’s
New Research: Do People Actually Use Fentanyl Test Strips to Avoid Overdose?
Fentanyl testing strips (FTS) were decriminalized in Tennessee in 2022, and since then have become a widely used tool for harm reduction efforts across the state. Considering that fentanyl has almost entirely replaced heroin and other opioids in the drug supply, we sought to find out if people remained interested
(Podcast) Data, Compassion, & Leadership: How Police Can Prevent Overdose Deaths
Click here to listen on Spotify When staff shortages and tight funding meet a rise in drug crime, you might not expect an overburdened police department to make extra work for themselves. Yet that is exactly what happened in Chattanooga in the mid 2010s, when calls to EMS started backing
SMART in the news: “Fatal Overdoses in Nashville are Down More Than 20 percent in 2024”
SMART’s Middle Tennessee Substance Use Response Consultant, Trevor Henderson, provides some key insight into what we are seeing with overdose trends. See below and read the full article for all pertinent information. “Still, the new data provides grounds for cautious optimism about turning the tide of a crisis that has
(Podcast) Potency And Supply: Fentanyl, Meth, And The “Drugification” Of Culture (feat. Sam Quinones)
Click here to listen on Spotify “How can anyone be doing drugs when we all know fentanyl is in everything?” We at UT SMART hear this question a lot from community leaders across the state. How is it that people keep risking their lives when we know for a fact
(Podcast) Leveraging the Right Partnerships at the Local Level
Click here to listen on Spotify A cop, a guitar company, and a public health analyst walk into a bar…and mount an opioid overdose first aid kit to the wall. We have covered the Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdose, or TEMPO, project before, specifically the effort to get
(Podcast) Nashville’s Overdose Co-Response Unit Brings Harm Reduction to Law Enforcement
Click here to listen on Spotify As the drug overdose deaths continue to climb, we have heard more and more Sheriffs and law enforcement officers across the state say “we can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem.” That the criminal justice system plays an important role, but not the only
(Podcast) Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdose
TEMPO, or Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdoses, is a multi-coalition and nonprofit program to distribute naloxone and train musicians and concert venue workers to identify and prevent opioid overdoses. TEMPO has recently made waves in Nashville with a pilot program in partnership with Hikma, who makes Kloxxado, as
(Podcast) Are More Syringe Service Programs Coming to Rural Tennessee?
My guest this month is Karen Pershing, executive director of Metro Drug Coalition. In the last legislative session, Karen played a significant role in pushing for a bill that reduced the barrier to opening new syringe service programs in rural Tennessee. In this episode, we discuss the impact of the