SMART News

March 30, 2025 is a crucial date for counties’ opioid settlement activities for multiple reasons. Not only is the next Opioid Abatement Trust Fund allocation and spending report due on March 30, this is also the deadline for allocating funds from 2023. If your county has any opioid abatement funding from 2023 that has not yet been allocated, contact your regional UT SMART consultant. We can help you identify spending priorities and assist with reporting to the OAC.

West: Lake County

Seeking to improve both treatment outcomes as well as continuity of care between services, Lake County has funded a certified peer recovery specialist (CPRS) to work directly in the county jail.

A CPRS is an individual in recovery who has met training requirements and is certified by the state of Tennessee to provide peer-to-peer support services. CPRS services have been shown to have a positive impact on treatment attendance and outcomes, cravings, risky behaviors and other components of recovery, but they are underutilized.

The Sycamore Institute produced this excellent overview explaining where Tennessee stands with opioid settlements. This report also details some of the work that SMART has done with county governments, and it uses some of our payment projection data for their graphics.

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From 2001–2011, as the prescription opioid crisis spiraled out of control, Kim Harmon, then with Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, went undercover to bust pill mills, among other investigations into medical fraud.

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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.

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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.

Read the full article at The Tennessean.

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 event, including the Center for Health Education & Wellness and the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Campus Communities. 

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There’s no question that over-prescribing of opioids kick-started the opioid crisis - the data is so overwhelming that nearly two dozen major companies have settled lawsuits to the tune of tens of billions of dollars because of that evidence.

We’ve since dramatically cut the supply of prescription opioids, so problem solved, right?

East: Roane County

Roane County has been awarded the Excellence in the Application of the Opioid Litigation Principles.