The Pitt News
The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | january 18, 2018 | Volume 108 | Issue 91
PITT, COMMUNITY PUSH OPIOID CRISIS SOLUTIONS Sid Lingala Staff Writer
derfunded public school. She also came from a single-parent household. “I somehow stumbled my way up through Penn State and onto Howard Law and through that. Nobody in my family has done any of that so I understand generational poverty and generational inequality, and that’s kind of where I come from with everything I do,” Lee said. She also said the solution to getting more people who come from impoverished and underrepresented backgrounds like hers involved in politics is to elect more people who relate to them and communicate with them regularly about their needs. “But the problem is that we have this system where we have candidates who have been in office for so long that no one even knows who they are,” Lee said. “And we have politicians who come into our community and they ask us for our votes and then we never hear from them again.”
Nearly 3,000 Pennsylvanians died of opioid overdoses in 2015, according to the Pitt Public Health Dynamics Lab. But researchers at Pitt are working to change that statistic. Michael Mallon, the project coordinator for Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health’s Opioid Initiatives, helps arrange research projects to learn more about the opioid crisis. He said the opioid crisis can be traced back to 1979 and has grown significantly since then. “Pennsylvania is one state that is being hit harder than others. The number of overdoses almost doubles every eight or nine years,” he said. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared the heroin and opioid epidemic a statewide emergency to promote research efforts and treatment response to overdose cases Jan. 10 . The Pennsylvania drug-related overdose death rate in 2016 was 36.5 per 100,000 people, an increase from 26.7 per 100,000 people in 2015, according to a 2016 report prepared by the Pitt and the Drug Enforcement Administration Philadelphia Division. The researchers identified opioid traces, obtained through illicit means or prescribed by a doctor, in 85 percent of drug-related overdose deaths in PA in 2016. “I am taking this step to protect Pennsylvanians from this looming public health crisis, and I am using every tool at my disposal to get those suffering from substance use disorders into treatment, save more lives and improve response coordination,” Wolf said. To fight the increase in overdose deaths locally, Pitt and community groups are working together as part of this campaign to stop opioid overdose. Currently, the Franklin County Overdose Task Force is preventing opioid usage by hosting speaking events and sending people to
See Progressives on page 3
See Opioid on page 2
Pennsylvania House District 34 candidate Summer Lee discusses community issues with members of Pitt Progressives Wednesday night. Thomas Yang VISUAL EDITOR
Pitt Progressives host state House candidate Summer Lee
Madeline Gavatorta Staff Writer
When asked what was distinct about her campaign, Summer Lee said she isn’t running on anything that isn’t “basic human stuff.” “I don’t see that I’m not running on anything that isn’t common sense,” Lee said. Lee is a Democratic candidate for District 34 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives primary election May 15 — challenging Paul Costa, D-Braddock. She joined 35 students at the Pitt Progressives’ weekly meeting in David Lawrence Hall and spoke about the importance of everyday people being politically active. Pitt Progressives Co-chair Sean Bailey, a sophomore computer science and philosophy major, was able to convince Lee to come through her campaign manager, who he is friends with. Bailey himself is a fan of her policies since she is running on “a platform of fairness and economic opportunity for all.”
“I think she is probably the most, or one of the most, gifted speakers I have ever heard running for local office in Pittsburgh,” Bailey said. She supports universal healthcare, improving public education and raising the minimum wage to $15. But she focused much of the talk on moving toward more diversity in politics. Lee said one of her biggest priorities is to support people from impoverished or underrepresented communities running for office. She said the public doesn’t want a situation where seats are vacant or where those in power can “appoint their friends.” She also wants to better educate eligible voters. “We have to be able to reach back and support other folk who share our values and who share our perspective, making sure we are fostering a pipeline for them to also get in,” Lee said. Lee discussed how she came from North Braddock and Rankin and went to Woodland Hills High School, what she described as an un-