Expert Pitches

A West Virginia University assistant professor wants to see the Mountain State increase women’s workforce participation, particularly women in substance use recovery. While Jenifer Gamble, field education director for West Virginia University’s School of Social Work, acknowledges great need, especially in light of the opioid crisis, she also sees the opportunity for improvement.

A West Virginia University law professor believes ‘red flag’ laws, if challenged in court, would be upheld. John Taylor, Jackson Kelly Professor of Law in the College of Law, calls the proposals being floated in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton “compromise measures.”

The answer to preventing horrific mass shootings can’t be reduced to a single political issue, according to James Nolan, a West Virginia University sociology professor and former police officer who also worked for the FBI as a unit chief in the Crime Analysis, Research and Development Unit. Nolan says the focus should move from individuals’ behaviors to systemic change.

The news of Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s passing provides an opportunity to reflect on her literary and cultural legacy, a West Virginia University women’s and gender studies expert says. The way Morrison “centered the complex lives of her black characters” is as pivotal as her acclaimed novels are, according to Lupe Davidson of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

A West Virginia University study of the state’s public schools found that more than 70 percent of teachers reported an increase in students affected by substance use. Teachers need more training and more resources to keep up with “A Crisis in the Classroom,” according to Frankie Tack, WVU Addiction Studies Minor Coordinator and Clinical Assistant Professor.

A West Virginia University health policy expert says The Washington Post analysis of targeted markets for opioid distribution sheds further light on the fact that substance use disorder has many causes and consequences. Accountability for addiction rests not only with the individual, but within the social and economic context that create an environment conducive to drug access and abuse, according to Chris Plein, professor of public administration.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that West Virginia has the highest rate of opioid-related deaths in the United States; also alarming, the state has a shortage of mental health professionals to provide treatment for people coping with addiction and recovery, according to West Virginia University expert Deanna Morrow.

Dr. James Berry, West Virginia University’s director of Addiction Services, says data from the Drug Enforcement Administration revealing the targeted distribution of pain pills and the corresponding rise in overdose deaths is alarming, if unsurprising to those who treat addiction.

While the Drug Enforcement Administration dealt decisively with previous drug epidemics– speed in the 70s and Quaaludes in the 80s – it has allowed large pharmaceutical companies free rein in producing opioids, according to West Virginia University’s John Temple, the author of “American Pain: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America’s Deadliest Drug Epidemic” which examined the genesis and proliferation of the opioid epidemic.

Data released this week from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders Systems shows disproportionate pain pill distribution into Appalachian and rural communities, which resulted in an opioid crisis for West Virginia and the region. West Virginia University expert Robin Pollini says the data underscores the depth of the problem and the need to confront it.