Local governments have been given direct control over a substantial amount of opioid settlement funding. While state-level data sources are valuable inputs, city and county leaders should consider local data sources when making decisions to ensure timely responses to emerging threats, as is exemplified by the rise of xylazine. Read
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
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
Click here to listen on Spotify When the CDC reports that almost 4,000 Tennesseans died of a drug overdose in 2023, it can be easy to forget that each one of those numbers represents a human being that was found deceased, investigated by law enforcement, and analyzed by a medical
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
