Upsurge of Opioid Use Spurs Event Featuring Experts, Screening of FBI Film
The plague of modern times is opioid addiction and overdose. In deadliness, it will soon catch up to the Black Death and 1919 flu epidemic.
Beyond the sheer numbers, says Derrik Tollefson, head of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, “opioid addiction is linked to a plethora of social problems affecting just about every person and family in the state.”
Acting on the premises that knowledge is power, Tollefson said SSWA is sponsoring an event that will feature the screening of film and a panel discussion to includes professionals who deal daily with narcotic treatment, prevention and law enforcement, including Chief Gary Jensen of the Logan Police Department.
The event begins at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 6, in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium at Utah State University. It is free and open to the public.
The 45-minute “Chasing the Dragon,” is being taken to cities throughout Utah by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, headquartered in Salt Lake City. That’s because, says Lindsey Bonney, the office’s outreach coordinator, Utah ”has a high rate of prescription drug use and abuse” with such opioids as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet and, in recent years, Fentanyal.
She seconds the words of James Comey, former head of the FBI and instigator of the film.
“This epidemic does not discriminate,” he said in a press release. “All across the country, it is taking good people from good homes and leading them down a trail that often ends in pain and sadness.”
The screening will be followed by a discussion and Q&A by a panel made up of law enforcement and treatment providers. Among the panel members will be:
- Vernon Stejskal: assistant U.S. Attorney and chief of the violent crimes section
- Lisa Barnhill: supervisor of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Control Division, which seeks to prevent the diversion of prescription drugs to illegal channels
- Gary Jensen: Logan Police Department chief
- Jared Bohman: substance abuse counselor at the Bear River Health Department
Contact: Janelle Hyatt, Janelle.hyatt@usu.edu
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