State grapples with fentanyl crisis as thousands die
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Law enforcement and drug recovery groups are struggling to address the fentanyl crisis in Tennessee, Tennessean intern Logan Washburn tells us. Let's look at some numbers he gathered:
The state had one of the highest fatal overdose rates in the nation in 2020, according to the CDC, when over 2,000 Tennesseans died of overdoes involving fentanyl. TBI Director David Rausch said fentanyl overdoses increased by more than 50% in 2021.
Drug overdoses killed more than 700 Nashvillians in 2021, and this year, fatal overdoses are on track to beat that number, according to the Metro Health Department. More than three quarters of Nashville drug overdoses were fentanyl-related during the first three months of 2022.
Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill a person. That means 1 gram of fentanyl could kill 500 people, and 1 pound of fentanyl could kill more than 220,000 people. The MNPD seized more than 5 pounds of fentanyl in a recent drug bust.
Read more from Logan on why officials say "this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee grapples with fentanyl crisis as thousands die
