United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Opioids and Heroin: A New Look at Some Old (and Not So Old) Drugs

Live Stream Available www.deamuseum.org/lecture-series/opioids-and-heroin-2018

Questions:       During the event, email questions to Elizabeth.L.Maurer@usdoj.gov

Admission:       This event is free and open to the public

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 174 people died of drug overdoses per day in 2016. The U.S. opioid overdose epidemic is worsening: emergency department visits for suspected opioid overdoses increased 30% in 45 states between July 2016 and September 2017, and all five U.S. regions experienced rate increases.

More alarming is the proliferation of illicit fentanyl. DEA investigations reveal that illicit fentanyl and its analogues are increasingly being added to heroin, cocaine, and synthetic marijuana as well as frequently pressed into counterfeit tablets resembling controlled prescription drugs. Between 2013 and 2014, there was a 79 percent increase in deaths related to synthetic opioids, the category under which fentanyl falls.

On September 18, 2018 the DEA Museum will host a panel discussion on “Opioids and Heroin: A New Look at Some Old (and Not So Old) Drugs.”

Experts in the opioid epidemic and the heroin threat will discuss the origins of the crisis, opioid addiction and overdose treatment, the importance of tracking opioid-related overdose deaths, and the increased heroin threat. This event is free and open to the public and will be streamed live over the Internet.

Dr. Teresa Rummans, M.D. Professor at the Mayo Clinic will discuss “How Good Intentions Contributed to Bad Outcomes: The Opioid Crisis.”

Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., Professor, University of Florida will discuss “The Opioid Crisis – An Epidemic of Overdoses and Deaths.”

Brian Fuehrlein, MD, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine; Director, Psychiatric Emergency Room, VA Connecticut Healthcare System will discuss “The Use of Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in an Emergency Room Setting.” 

Dolores Breiner, Intelligence Research Specialist, Domestic Strategic Intelligence Unit, DEA will discuss "An Overview of The Heroin Situation in the United States.”

Dr. Mark S. Gold, Chairman of Rivermend Health’s Scientific Advisory Boards, will moderate.