The American Opioid Crisis

In 2017, there were 72,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S., more than half of which were either heroin or synthetic opioids. In 2016, more Americans were lost to opioids than were killed in the Vietnam War. On November 28th, Chris McGreal, author of American Overdose, will discuss what is being described as “one of the greatest mistakes of modern medicine,” the communities who have been hit hardest by this crisis, and what the government, physicians and organizations are doing to fight back.

Chris McGreal is a reporter for the Guardian and former journalist at the BBC. He was the Guardian’s correspondent in Johannesburg, Jerusalem and Washington DC, and now writes from across the United States. He has won several awards including for his reporting of the genocide in Rwanda, coverage of Israel/Palestine, and for writing on the impact of economic recession in modern America. He received the James Cameron prize for “work as a journalist that has combined moral vision and professional integrity”. He was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism for reporting that “penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth”. He is a former merchant seaman.

This event will be moderated by Steven Shoptaw, PhD, a licensed psychologist and the new Center Director for CHIPTS. He is Professor in the UCLA Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Vice Chair of Research in Family Medicine. Dr. Shoptaw has a portfolio of work that focuses on the treatment of addiction and HIV prevention in the context of addiction in the Western U.S. where stimulant use is the single strongest predictor of HIV transmission.

Please reserve no later than 12:00 pm on Monday, November 26. Cancellations must be made by 12:00 pm on Monday, November 26 in order to receive a refund.