Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Geography Of Opiate Addiction, Overdose, And Treatment In Tennessee, David Stanley Leventhal, Meghan Russell, Kali Williams

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Opioid addiction and overdose has become a national epidemic in the United States over the past 30 years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20,000 Americans died from prescription drugs alone in 2014. Tennessee ranks especially high in the number of opioid prescriptions and overdoses when compared to the rest of the US. The Volunteer State is one of only 13 where doctors issued between 96-143 opioid prescriptions per 100 people. This project maps opiate prescription rates and overdose death rates in Tennessee to identify trends in the geospatial, socioeconomic, and demographic makeup of victims, …