Fighting Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription painkiller abuse continues to plague East Tennessee. One of the lawmakers trying to tackle the problem in the Tennessee General Assembly is State Sen. Ken Yager (R-Harriman). He represents District 12, which is in Roane County.

Sen. Yager is sponsor of a bill before the legislature this term that would prohibit state or local officials who have committed a crime during their term of office from being considered for pre-trial or judicial diversion. The bill is in part in response to the case involving former Judge Richard Baumgartner, who resigned from the bench after disclosing he was addicted to painkillers.

6 News Anchor/Reporter Hana Kim fills in this week for Gene Patterson. Later in the program she talks to MetroPulse writer Cari Wade Gervin, former mayoral deputy Craig Griffith, and Cortney Piper of Piper Communications. They also discuss the prescription pill abuse epidemic in East Tennessee, as well as other topics in this week's news.