Overdoses Rise in Tennessee

The Tennessee Department of Health reports more people died from drug overdoses in 2017 than in any year since reporting began.
The department found that 1,776 people died from drug overdoses in 2017–the majority of those deaths were related to opioid overdoses.
Of the 1,776 deaths, 1,268 of them were opioid-related. Nearly 650 of those were associated with prescription opioids used to treat pain. Pain-fighting opioids were the cause of more deaths than any other group of drugs.
Fentanyl was also identified as a major contributor to the increased number of drug overdose deaths.
Fentanyl is a potent and dangerous drug that is similar to heroin. It can be made legally or illegally, but it is often used to mix with other drugs. Drug users have no way of knowing if it is included in a drug they’re buying on the street.
Fentanyl was associated with 500 deaths in 2017. That’s a 70 percent increase from the year before.