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From Punishment to Public Health

Over the last decade, the United States has found itself in the middle of a drug overdose crisis. Provisional data for 2016 put the number of overdose fatalities at over 64,000—a staggering 22 percent increase from the year before. And the state of Ohio is at the epicenter. In 2016, Ohio ranked second in the nation in drug overdose death rates (at 39.1 per 100,000) and third in the nation in total number of deaths (4,329), which translates into nearly 12 citizens losing their lives to a drug overdose each day.

The conference explored the impact of criminal justice laws and policies in compounding drug use harms, including overdose deaths, and offer an alternative framework for addressing problematic drug use and drug-related fatalities that is rooted in evidence, compassion, and the principles of harm reduction.

Conference hosts:

Drug Policy Alliance
Harm Reduction Ohio
Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, The Ohio State University
ACLU Ohio

Conference partners:

College of Public Health, The Ohio State University
Harm Reduction Coalition
The Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Beletsky, Leo - Northeastern University

Drug Enforcement and Policy Center

From Punishment to Public Health

Conference hosts:

Conference partners:

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

LEO BELETSKY, JD

Associate Professor of Law and Health Sciences; Director, Health in Justice Action Lab; School of Law & Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University

ALICE BELL, LCSW

Overdose Prevention Project Coordinator, Prevention Point Pittsburgh

JOHN BROOKLYN, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine

PETER BRUUN, MFA

Founder, The New Day Campaign, a program of Brunn Studios; artist, educator, curator, and community activist

DENNIS CAUCHON

President, Harm Reduction Ohio

MELISSA GREEN, MS

Harm Reduction Program Manager, Alcohol & Drug Services, Columbus Public Health

TRACI GREEN, PhD

Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, Associate Director & Senior Scientist, Injury Prevention Research Center, Boston University Medical Center

RICK HODGES, MPA

Executive in Residence, College of Health Sciences and Professions, Ohio University; Director, Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health

RICK MASSATI, PhD

State Treatment Opioid Authority, OhioMHAS

RUSS MAYNARD

Community Engagement, Research and Policy, PHS Community Services Society

DANIEL RAYMOND

Policy Director, Harm Reduction Coalition

DANIEL ROSENBLUM, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Dalhousie University

LIPI ROY, MD, MPA

Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Health; former Chief of Addiction Medicine, Rikers Island

SHAWN RYAN, MD

President and Chief Medical Officer, BrightView; Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati

SUSAN SHERMAN, Ph.D.

Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins University

President and Chief Medical Officer, BrightView; Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of
Cincinnati