The Opioid Epidemic: Using Neuroscience to Inform Policy and Law

Catalog description

Prerequisites: HUMBIO 4A or PSYC 183 or consent of instructor. The opioid epidemic has become a national problem, killing 115 people per day in the United States, and contributing to the first decrease in life expectancy in this country for decades. This is an upper division undergraduate class that aims to help students understand the science of opiates, how opioid prescribing and availability led us to be in this place, and how that information might be used to create effective policy to reverse it. Students will engage didactic work and interactive discussions to stimulate critical thinking at the interface between psychology, psychiatry, addiction medicine, neuroscience, communication, law, and society. They will develop the knowledge-base and framework to critically evaluate the science behind opioid addiction and how to apply this knowledge to address the addiction epidemic. This highly interactive seminar aims to engage the students in critical thinking didactics, activities and discussions that shape their understanding of the complexity inherent to the issues surrounding addiction and increase the student's ability to more critically assimilate and interrogate information. Preference will be given to upperclassmen, especially in the Human Biology program. Attendance at first class is mandatory.