Online-Veranstaltung auf Zoom

In the last ten years two events have transformed the United States drug problem. Most important is the arrival of illegally manufactured fentanyl which has led to a doubling of the number of fatal overdoses between 2015 and 2021, when it reached an unimaginable 100,000. Even though China has cracked down on the production and export of fentanyl since 2019, this caused no disruption as Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations now process precursors into the same drug. What are the sources of this problem and why is the number of overdoses likely to rise in the near future?

The other major development is the legalization of marijuana sale and consumption in 18 states, even while the federal government continues to prohibit the drug. The states have all chosen a similar path, a lightly regulated commercial model. The lecture will discuss the consequences of that for drug use and public health, as well as forms of legalization that might have had better results.

Meeting-ID: 865 1517 9011

Referent: Prof. Dr. Peter Reuter, University of Maryland