The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Siegal Lifelong Learning Program will host the fourth webinar in their Racial Disparity, Social Justice and the Opioid Crisis series. Held Thursday, Sept. 24, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. EST, the topic of the webinar will be “Substance Use, Stigma, and Incarceration: How Racism Impacts Prosecution, Sentencing and Access to Treatment in the Prison System.”
Black and Latinx heroin use has historically been stigmatized as a moral failing and continues to be prosecuted and sentenced punitively. White opioid use—in marked contrast—has been decriminalized and treated as a biomedical disease. While Black and Latinx individuals use drugs at the same rate as whites, they are six to 10 times as likely to be incarcerated for drug use.
During this session, learn how racism impacts prosecution, sentencing and access to treatment for minorities in the prison system and what policy reforms are necessary to break the cycle
of incarceration for substance use.
The following individuals will present during the event:
- William Maddox, program manager of the Men’s Residential Unit at Community Assessment & Treatment Services Cleveland: “Substance, Stigma, the Criminal Justice System and Access to Treatment: My Perspective”
- Latoria Eason, drug court treatment coordinator at the Greater Cleveland Drug Court: racial disparity in drug court
- Piet van Lier, research consultant at Policy Matters Ohio: “Opportunities for Justice Reform in Ohio”