Tennessee’s Battle Against Deadly Fentanyl
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Tennessee continues to battle a deadly wave in the opioid epidemic, driven largely by the rise of fentanyl.
Often lurking in counterfeit pills and street drugs, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid so potent that just a speck can cause a fatal overdose.
In response, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has launched several initiatives to save lives.
Dr. Becca Martin, Director of Emergency Opioid Use Services, told News 12 that “people are either smoking it or injecting it or taking it or you know intranasal inhaling it. It’s a problem. It is about 100 times as potent as morphine. It’s about 50 or so times as potent as heroin.”
Some of these initiatives include expanding access to Narcan, the life-saving overdose reversal drug. It’s available without a prescription at most pharmacies, and free training is available online.
The state also now allows fentanyl test strips, which can detect the drug in pills and powders.
Legalized in 2022, the strips are helping users avoid accidental overdoses. We spoke to an overdose expert about what signs to look out for of an overdose
When asked the warning signs of someone who is overdosing on fentanyl, Katrina Hereford, Overdose Prevention Program Manager stated that the individual may be “unconsciousness or have an inability to awaken, have slow or shallow breathing or difficulty breathing like choking sounds possibly a gurgling or snoring noise from a person who can’t be awakened. Sometimes the fingernails or in the lift it might be discolored, like a kind of blue or purple, and the other really important one is small, constructed pinpoint pupils.”
Meanwhile, on the ground in places like Grundy County, the response is personal. Community leaders are stepping up education efforts and working with regional overdose prevention specialists to distribute naloxone and train first responders.
It’s part of a broader movement across the state to reduce stigma, raise awareness, and connect people to treatment before it’s too late.
