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Sevier County hosts second open forum on opioid abuse

A panel discussed how opioid abuse has affected the school system, courts, emergency medicine, businesses and quality of life.

Sevier County held its second open forum to talk about opioid abuse and its impact on the county on Tuesday, June 19 at the Sevierville Civic Center.

A panel discussed how opioid abuse has affected the school system, courts, emergency medicine, businesses and quality of life.

Local medical professionals, school officials, and law enforcement all came together with the same goal, to chip away at an issue that many communities are dealing with. The goal is to help people to find their path to recovery and bring awareness to the issues.

Several people in the audience also spoke on how addiction has changed their families for the worse. The city plans to hold more meetings like these in the future.

At the first open forum in April, leaders released numbers on opioid overdoses and discussed approaches to combating the problem. On the day of that event, the Sevier County Sheriff's Office arrested 43 people for drug distribution charges.

Previous Story: Sevier County starts new effort to end opioid addiction

The panel discussion is sponsored by Leadership Sevier, the City of Sevierville and Sevier County CARES.

It included 14 area experts and community members who represent a range of professions.

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