The Connect: NY series explores statewide issues of critical importance with monthly, one-hour panel discussions. This episode, 'Being Poor: Dope, but no Hope', continues to focus on poverty by looking at those with drug addictions and continuous illegal drug usage and how their situations often spiral into a circumstance where they are living in poverty. While much of New York State, and much of the nation has been dealing with an opiod crisis, young people in the Southern Tier face the additional burden of a stagnant economy. Many attribute the staggering rise in opioid addiction and deaths to a lack of hope about the future.
Panelists joining the show:
- Dr. Indu Gupta, Onondaga County Health Director/co-chair of the Onondaga County Opioid Taskforce
- Professor Dessa Bergen-Cico, Fellow of the American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders, Associate Professor Department of Public Health, Syracuse University
- Alexis Pleus, Mother who lost her son to drug addiction/Founder of TruthPharm, Inc., a national advocacy 501c3 non-profit organization. Truth Pharm, based in Broome County, is working to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorders, and advocating for policy change to improve treatment options
- Stephanie Campbell, Acting Executive Director, Friends of Recovery – Albany, New York.
Watch this new episode on Monday, March 27, 2017 at 9:00pm.
Join us as we uncover compelling and unexpected stories throughout New York State and the history and systemic forces influencing current realities. Connect: NY is produced by WCNY (Syracuse, NY) and aired in partnership with WSKG.
