Our region faces an epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

And this problem impacts every part of our community – families, healthcare providers, employers, schools, and cities and towns.

 

The scope of the problem

Drug abuse & overdose deaths

We must work together to change these statistics:

  • Approximately 70,000 Tennesseans are addicted to opioids. Our state is seeing epidemic levels of addiction, overdoses, and death.
  • Tennessee ranks #3 in the nation for opioid use, with East Tennessee having the highest opioid consumption in the state.
  • 3,826 Tennesseans died from drug overdose in 2022. Of those deaths, 3,073 were from opioids. The increase in opioid overdose deaths is primarily driven by deaths involving illicit fentanyl. East TN had the highest number of overdose deaths, encompassing 43% of the deaths in 2022.
  • In 2022, 96% of all drug overdose deaths in TN were due to unintentional poisoning, while 3% of overdose deaths were intentional.
  • For every drug overdose death in 2019, nearly 12 nonfatal overdose discharges were identified in TN’s Statewide Hospital Discharge Data System.
  • Each day in Tennessee, at least 3 people die from an opioid-related overdose, which is more than the number of daily traffic fatalities.
  • Each year, more opioid prescriptions are written than there are people living in Tennessee with more than 1 million prescriptions left over.

There were 334 confirmed drug overdose deaths in Northeast counties in 2022:

  • Sullivan County – 77 overdose deaths
  • Washington County –68 overdose deaths
  • Greene County – 38 overdose deaths
  • Carter County – 34 overdose deaths
  • Unicoi County – 8 overdose deaths
  • Hawkins County – 25 overdose deaths
  • Cocke County – 31 overdose deaths
  • Hamblen County – 35 overdose deaths
  • Hancock County – 4 overdose deaths
  • Johnson County – 14 overdose deaths

Crime

80% of crimes in Tennessee have some drug-related nexus.

Broken families

  • Prescription opioid abuse has resulted in more children being removed from homes and entering state custody.
  • About 31% of the youth in Tennessee taken into Dept. of Children’s Services custody were removed from their homes because of parental drug use. (Source: Tennessee Dept. of Children’s Services)

 

Do you need help?

Feel stuck in the vicious cycle of drug dependency?

Take a few minutes to learn about our programs and how Overmountain Recovery can help you.