Substance Use as a Public Health Issue

Catalog description

Over 70,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US in 2017 alone, exceeding the number of US soldiers who died in the twenty years of the Vietnam War. This course will provide an overview of the contemporary challenges in addressing substance use as a public health problem. Students will learn about the personal and environmental factors that often contribute to substance use, as well as the downstream consequences, including HIV and hepatitis C. Students will also learn public health strategies to address substance use, including primary prevention and ahrm reduction. Finally, issues around drug policy at the local, state, and federal level will be discussed. While this course will use opioids and the crisis in Philadelphia as the primary case study, other drugs will be touched upon as well. The course combines lecture, interactive class exercise, and group discussion.