A Tale of Two Drug Epidemics

Presenter 1: Natalie Muskin-Press ’05, staff therapist and coordinator of the Alcohol and Drug Education office

Abstract: This will be a brief discussion of the differences in both reporting, policing, and legislative response between the crack epidemic in the 1980s and the current opioid epidemic. It will show examples of how people responded and how that resulted in different actions that led to incarceration for one population and sympathy and harm-reduction treatment for another. This will touch on the drug war, pharmaceuticals, and racism. The presentation will use data, newspaper articles, and evidence based treatment information.

It will start with a comparison of reporting, move into how presidents, presidential candidates, and other top lawmakers talked about each epidemic and how legislation differed. It will end with data about drug use and effective treatment and explore how race effects whether you end on the treatment track or the prison track for drug crimes.