Addiction and the Opioid Crisis—“The DEA: Drug Seizure Efforts and Keeping Our Community Safe”

The Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program will host a series composed of four lectures discussing current information on the opioid crisis in the local community. Lectures in the Addiction and the Opioid Crisis: Revelations of Recovery, Community Action and Our Legal System series will take place four Thursdays in the fall at 7 p.m. in the Landmark Centre (25700 Science Park Drive, Beachwood). The series is free and open to the public. Register for the full series on the Siegal Lifelong Learning website.

About the series

The series seeks to educate the local community on the growing opioid crisis, its dangers, the people who fight each day to make our community safe and the professionals working to help people suffering with the disease of addiction. Kevin Adelstein, publisher and CEO of the Cleveland Jewish News, will moderate the series’ four events:

• “The DEA: Drug Seizure Efforts and Keeping Our Community Safe” Sept. 27;
• “The Opioid Crisis Facing Our Courts: A Judge’s Perspective” Oct. 4;
• “Addiction to Recovery: Circle of Caring for Self, Others and Community” Oct. 25; and
• “Addiction and Suicide: Correlations and How a Community Responds” Dec. 6.

Sheryl Hirsh, assistant director of Jewish Lifelong Learning for the program, first created the series three years ago in memory of her daughter, Melissa Rae Koppel. This series is co-sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Cleveland Jewish News and is presented in loving memory of Melissa Rae Koppel. Siegal Lifelong Learning encourages contributions to the Melissa Rae Fund in Support of Addiction Advocacy, Understanding and Change.

About the first event

The first event in the series, “The DEA: Drug Seizure Efforts and Keeping Our Community Safe,” will take place Thursday, Sept. 27. Marissa Darden, assistant U.S. attorney for the northern district of Ohio, and James Goodwin, resident agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Cleveland District Office, will bring attendees into the fold of the DEA. They will discuss how they conduct large drug seizures, the obstacles they face every day and how they continue to fight the war on drugs.