Each week we look at “The Academic Minute” to see if current short podcasts might be of particular interest to managers, program directors and other appointed and elected decision-makers in state and local government.

Over the last few weeks, there have been quite a few excellent relevant moments captured by this podcast that concern drug use and overdose issues that provide interesting insights. 

The following very short podcasts, all stemming from academic research, were all released between July 31 and August 14.

• “The US Fentanyl Challenge” --  Donna Nelson, Professor of  Chemistry at the University of Oklahoma, provides the alarming statistics on the number of Fentanyl deaths and death rates, which continue to rise, despite the increase in US Border Patrol seizures. As she says, “In 2023, over 27,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl were seized, which is enough to kill every person in the US more than 18 times.” Listen to the two minute and thirty second podcast here (and you can also read the transcript.)

• “Changing to a Person-Centered Approach When Referring to Substance Use Clients”-- (released on August 14). Cailyn Green, assistant professor of addiction studies in the School of Human Services at Empire State University, advises individuals dealing with or managing substance use programs to shift terminology – avoiding terms like  “addict” or “alcoholic”, in favor or words that carry less stigma. 

Citing advice from the National Institute of Drug abuse, she indicates that old school terminology that labels a person as an addict can be counter-productive, affecting a client’s level of trust and “their sense of hope and recovery.” To hear the short podcast or read the transcript, click here. 

• “Covid 19 Physical Distancing Restrictions Contributed to Increases in Drug Overdoses” -- Douglas Wolf, professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University, discusses studies that reveal the states with more stringent stay-at-home and school closure policies in 2020 had lower levels of Covid deaths, but also had the “unintended effect of increasing overdose deaths among working-age adults.”  

Research cited by Wolf shows that state economic supports had lower Covid overdose rates than those with less economic support, “but no state adopted economic supports generous enough to offset the unintended harmful consequences of their physical distancing policies.” His conclusion: “While challenging, policymakers must weigh the harms as well as the benefits of public health interventions.” The podcast and transcript are available here.

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