(MURFREESBORO) Did you realize that August 31, 2023 is Drug Overdose Awareness Day. A group of young adults walked around the heavy-traffic areas of Murfreesboro to show their support of ways to reduce the growing number of deaths attributed to drug overdoses. 

In Tennessee, overdose and associated deaths continue to claim too many lives.  In 2021, the most recent year of full data, 3,814 Tennesseans died from drug overdose.

Police with blue lights flashing drove alongside the marchers to make certain of their safety from passing motorists. 

NewsRadio WGNS spoke with these marhers as they walked along the sidewalk on Medical Center Parkway, between the Boys & Girls Club and Memorial Blvd. 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a proclamation for this being Drug Overdose Awareness Day. 

The governor explained that the majority of drug overdose deaths in Tennessee are attributed to fentanyl, accounting for at least 70 per cent of our state's overdose deaths.  In addition, an emerging and dangerous substance seen in the Volunteer State is known as Xylazine.

In fact, Tennessee's Regional Overdose Prevention Specialists, many with lived experience of addiction recovery, work tirelessly to educate Tennesseans and have distributed more than 1,000,000 doses of the life-saving opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone resulting in more than 66,000 documented lives saved.

As a result of several legal settlements with opioid producers and distributors, Tennessee's Opioid Abatement Council and local governments are beginning to receive tens of millions of dollars to address the harm caused by the opioid crisis and to implement innovative approaches in remediation efforts.