News conference held in West Tennessee as state lawmakers work on fighting opioid abuse

JACKSON, Tenn. — A news conference was held Wednesday in Jackson as state lawmakers work on fighting opioid abuse.

Recommendations made by a task force created in 2017 have now been passed to help the state better fight the opioid epidemic.

The task force is also increasing the amount of Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents in our state to stop the flow of illegal drugs.

State representative and Republican gubernatorial candidate Beth Harwell tells us how easily people can be affected by opioids.

“About the sixth day, it literally starts changing the brain, and people easily can become addicted after four or five days of opioid use,” Harwell said.

According to Harwell, opioid prescriptions are now down by 7 percent from 2012.