A frightening amount of fentanyl is now off area streets Monday following a joint investigation by the Cheatham County Sheriff Narcotics unit, Clarksville Police and the TBI. The long-term investigation happened suddenly on February 24 at a convenience store off of 41 A in Cheatham County. According to Lt. Shannon Heflin of the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit, agents …

Here’s a look at the opioid crisis. Experts say the United States is in the throes of an opioid epidemic. An estimated 10.1 million Americans aged 12 and older misused opioids in 2019, including 9.7 million prescription pain reliever abusers and 745,000 heroin users. Opioids are drugs formulated to replicate the pain-reducing properties of opium. Prescription painkillers like morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone are …

Overdose deaths spiked in Washington in 2020, increasing by 38% in the first half of the year compared to the first half of 2019, according to the state Department of Health (DOH).  Most of that increase came from deaths involving fentanyl, a very strong opioid, according to the DOH.  Preliminary data show 835 overdose deaths in the first six months …

As the death toll contributed to COVID-19 nears 430,000 in the United States alone, there’s another number that’s just as alarming but not receiving the same attention, even though the two are connected: Overdose deaths. In the 12 months ending in May 2020, more than 81,000 drug overdose deaths were reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the …

Since starting his first recovery home in 2017, Jonathan Allen has lost very few residents to overdoses. In 2020, he had two clients overdose and die after leaving one of Allen’s Primary Purpose recovery homes. One man packed and left in the middle of the night after months of being sober. Frustrated with the restrictions put in place due to …

Overdose reversal medicine Naloxone is a tremendous tool in the fight against opioids but we need more Tennesseans aware of the crisis and what they can do to help. Most of us have heard about the opioid epidemic afflicting the United States. The numbers are truly mind-boggling: Over 450,000 Americans have lost their lives to an opioid overdose in the last …

Karen Butcher thought that after years of struggling with drug addictions, her son, Matthew was finally in a good place. Then the pandemic hit and on May 25, 2020, just weeks after his 31st birthday, Matthew was discovered by his girlfriend, dead from an overdose. In 2018 and 2019, Scott County recorded 17 deaths each year due to overdose, but …

An undercover sting operation has led to the discovery of hundreds of counterfeit drugs in Marion County, and authorities are warning the public that more deadly pills are being distributed in the area. The 12th Judicial Drug Task Force (DTF) announced Wednesday night that the drugs found were made to look like 30 mg oxycodone pills. Instead, agents say the …

Growing drug abuse and the number of overdoses are taking a toll on the people, families and communities in the Mankato region. The victims of drug abuse see their families destroyed, and the community often pays the price in the resulting crime: dangerous car chases, burglary, robbery, gun violence and child abuse. A recent in-depth report published in last Sunday’s …

Experts said addiction is a disease of isolation. COVID-19 further complicated that. At the beginning of 2020, things were looking better in terms of Knox County’s ongoing overdose epidemic. There were plans for The Gateway, a community recovery center in Knoxville. The county’s All4Knox plan was in its final planning stages. For the first time in years, overdoses had actually declined. “Prior to this …