The New Heroin Epidemic

A Discussion With: Michael W. Clune, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of English at Case Western Reserve University & Lee D. Hoffer, Ph.D, an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University
From Rolling Stone to The Christian Science Monitor; WKYC Cleveland to CWRU’s Observer, reports tell us that heroin has become more common and a major killer. Cory Monteith and Philip Seymour Hoffman are highly publicized, “sentinel” cases. But overdoses killed 195 people in Cuyahoga County in 2013 - up from 40 in 2007, and more than the deaths from homicide or vehicle accidents.
Heroin use is both personal and social. Lee Hoffer, Associate Professor of Anthropology, studies the social world of illicit drug use. Among his works is Junkie Business: The Evolution and Operation of a Heroin Dealing Network. Associate Professor of English Michael Clune’s searing memoir of his own addiction, White Out: The Secret Life of Heroin, was chosen as one of the best books of 2013 by The New Yorker and NPR’s On Point. Join them for a broad discussion of the puzzles and issues raised by heroin’s presence in modern life.