Connections

Opioid Crisis

WXXI, in partnership with public broadcasting stations across New York state, will air special programming examining the opioid crisis during the week of Oct. 15.New York’s Opioid Crisis is a first-of-its-kind partnership to draw attention to this public health crisis and raise awareness of services available in local communities for those affected by opioid addiction.Support for opioid crisis programming on WXXI is provided in part by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. A complete list of programs can be found here: WXXI.org/opioid-prog.We want to hear what you have to say about opioid and heroin use in our community. Please click on this link to take a short survey.

Connections: How the pandemic has impacted the opioid crisis

WXXI News | By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack

Published June 10, 2020 at 2:18 PM EDT

We check in on the opioid crisis and how the pandemic has impacted it. Harvard’s Julia Marcus has compared the pandemic to the opioid crisis and the AIDS crisis when it comes to harm reduction strategies. We discuss what works and what the experts are learning.

Our guests:

Tim Wiegand, M.D., director of toxicology at URMC, and associate director of the UR Medicine Combined Addiction Fellowship Training Program
Julie Stampler, harm reductionist and board member of the National Harm Reduction Coalition