The Fentanyl Crisis: A UNLV Community Response

Document Type

Lecture

Publication Date

4-22-2025

Publisher

Brookings Mountain West

Abstract

Brookings Mountain West hosted a live panel discussion with UNLV faculty experts and Brookings Senior Fellow, Vanda Felbab-Brown on the critical topic of the fentanyl crisis in America. The devastating impacts of synthetic opioids in the United States cannot be overstated: more than 100,000 Americans are dying of drug overdoses annually, with fentanyl as a major contributor. Health experts have called the fentanyl crisis in North America the most lethal drug epidemic in history.

In this live panel, faculty discuss their work to combat fentanyl abuse in our region, and provide policymakers, law enforcement leadership, and community nonprofits an inside glimpse at the obstacles to prevention, education, and treatment faced by those working on the epidemic’s front lines. Their collective work was recently featured on a popular Brookings podcast series hosted by Felbab-Brown, The Killing Drugs: Synthetic Opioids around the World. The podcast series takes a comprehensive look at the fentanyl crisis nationwide and around the world, and features 2 episodes with UNLV faculty from the UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine and Department of Criminal Justice at UNLV.

Keywords

Opioids; Reform; Substance use; Intervention; Treatment; Healthcare; Nevada

Disciplines

Health Policy | Mental and Social Health | Public Health | Public Policy | Social Welfare | Substance Abuse and Addiction

Run Time

01:17:17

Streaming Media

Language

English


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