SMART News

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 well as ONEbox, to distribute high-tech overdose reversal first aid kits to music venues, and we at the SMART Initiative were impressed by their immediate results (they saved lives).

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 an on-campus community of students wanting a safer, sober college experience, the ambassadors hosted weekly all-recovery meetings and mental health events, as well as sober-friendly social events like group yoga, concerts, bounce house obstacle courses and more.

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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 whether or not there are comparable testing strips for xylazine and if these would be significantly useful in curbing overdose fatalities.

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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.

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Read the full analysis.

Key Points