Opioid addiction treatment providers in Middle Tennessee are spinning up mobile units to increase access to highly effective step-down medications. But speed bumps still stand in the way truly mobile medication-assisted treatment.
Harm reduction in Tennessee: a week of perspectives
This Is Nashville is taking a deep look into the opioid addiction crisis. Listen to four audio features here and find links to four full episodes.
NashVillager Podcast: Hurdles to reducing harm
Why do people tend to balk at life-saving advances? Plus, the local news for September 9, 2025.
From street corners to campsites, the work of Miriam Field, harm reductionist
When it comes to drug addiction, trying to help someone quit can feel like a lost cause. But there are still ways to keep people as healthy as possible. They’re just a little bit controversial. It’s a philosophy known as “harm reduction.”
Smoking-focused addiction help would save lives, but it’s not easy to access in Tennessee
Appalachian states have had some of the highest overdose rates in the country over the past decade. But officials have been slow to adopt some harm reduction efforts that could save lives.
RFK stumps for overdose prevention in Nashville as Tennessee’s death rate declines
Before his appointment as HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cast doubt on drugs like methadone, which help opioid use disorder patients stave off withdrawal and cravings. He touted them at the RX and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville.
How Nashville is addressing overdoses in its booming tourism district
Business owners and city officials in Nashville have implemented a program that uses an opioid reversal kit created in West Virginia to bolster harm reduction efforts in the city’s tourism district.
Fentanyl test kits are now legal in Tennessee, but groups still can’t distribute them at Bonnaroo
Bonnaroo is back after a two-year hiatus. And this year, the promoter has welcomed a nonprofit to distribute the overdose reversal drug naloxone as drug deaths continue to soar among young adults. But the festival still hasn’t embraced more controversial forms of harm reduction.
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