Overdose numbers in Mid-South states are down from last year.
In Tennessee, for example, the state’s Department of Health’s March 2022 report on overdoses, the most recent report they have, which is both fatal and non-fatal, showed roughly 600 less people OD’d than that time last year, 1,834 to 2,421.
2021 was a record-setting year for many states across the country when it came to overdose deaths.
All three Mid-South states surpassed the CDC prediction on deaths for that year.“It looks like the deaths this year are on par and maybe even exceed that,” said Dr. Ronald Cowan, Chair of UTHSC’s Department of Psychiatry.
he main culprit, as some may be able to guess, is fentanyl.
“It’s pretty much omnipresent in all these deaths, whether or not there’s cocaine or heroin or other illicit drugs present as well,” said Dr. Ben Figura, Director of the West TN Regional Forensic Center and Forensic Anthropologist for UTHSC.