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
The Rocky Top Recovery Ambassadors are a group of college students, undergrad and grad, that identify as being in recovery and or having a mental health disorder. Building a community on campus of students wanting a safer, sober college experience, the ambassadors hosted weekly all-recovery meetings and mental health events,
Most people are now aware of fentanyl testing strips, which were decriminalized last year in Tennessee. But with the rise of xylazine (also known as tranq) as a contaminant in the fentanyl supply, many have been asking about whether or not there are comparable testing strips for xylazine, and if
In 2020, the TN Together Student Survey found that the average age for first using a substance was 13 to 14 years old. Identifying and intervening at that age is thus crucial. Most of the time, however, the problem isn’t caught until later: usually when the person is college aged.
If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that there is strong evidence for the effectiveness of addiction treatment, and that the biggest obstacle we face in combating the overdose crisis is an overall lack of access to that treatment. Health insurance is of course a
Purdue Pharma. Johnson and Johnson. CVS. Walgreens. I could keep going. Drug manufacturers and distributors have rightly come under scrutiny in light of the opioid abatement settlements. As these companies start paying hundreds of millions of dollars out across the country, in an effort to try to make up for
Everyone who’s gone to elementary school in the last fifty years has had some sort of “Just Say No” sessions and activities; we’re all familiar with this type of informational prevention. But there is much more to the picture. My guest this month is Stephanie Strutner, CEO of the Prevention
At the end of 2022, the CDC released new prescribing guideline for opioids, replacing their last set from 2016. Excluding patients with cancer and other terminal illnesses, this guideline strongly emphasizes alternatives to opioids and urges extreme caution for physicians considering new opioid prescriptions, while also recommending how to appropriately
The Rocky Top Recovery Ambassadors put on a free concert on UT’s campus to raise awareness of mental health and recovery from substance use disorder. Participants were given free pizza and soda, and local sober bar Frog Juice had a table, distributing alcohol-free kombucha. Other organizations had tables at the
Read the full policy brief here. Key Points Opioid overdose deaths (ODD) are best understood as three phases: first due to prescription opioid misuse, followed by a rise in heroin use, and currently due to contamination by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Each phase has posed unique policy challenges. Numerous
