The Changing Nature of the Opioid Crisis

The opioid epidemic has killed roughly 900,000 Americans since the year 1999. The crisis, though, looks much different today. Initially fueled by prescription painkillers, the epidemic was later shaped by heroin and, more recently, illicit fentanyl. Meanwhile, the epicenter of the crisis has moved from largely white, rural communities of the United States to communities of color. USC Price School Professor Rosalie Pacula joins the show to discuss this evolution of the opioid epidemic and her new research on the role that geography plays in shaping the crisis.