Herd in Town will take place at Fat Patty’s Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. The event will feature three guest speakers, Chris White, Maggie Stone and Kristin Lillvis. The trio will be discussing substance abuse, drug wars and the Black Lives Matter movement.

White, associate professor of history, will be speaking on drug wars in his talk “How to Avoid another Century War of Drug Wars.” Stone, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, will delve into the topic of opioid addiction with “Harm Reduction in Appalachia: An Alternative Approach to Substance Abuse.” Lillvis, associate professor of English, will lead the discussion on “Why #blacklivesmatter Matters.”

“Harm reduction is a non-judgmental public health philosophy and intervention that attempts to reduce the harms associated with drug use and ineffective drug policies rather than promoting an abstinence-only model,” Stone said.

While these programs are expanding within Appalachia, they are less likely to be implemented in more rural areas. According to the FDA, Appalachia is among the worst opioid abusers in the country with 20-36 deaths per 100,000 people in West Virginia alone.

A recent study by the West Virginia Health Statistics Center found West Virginia ranked No. 1 in drug overdose deaths in 2015. Of those deaths, 70 took place in Cabell County.

“I encourage students to attend and take part in what should be a very productive dialogue about public issues, such as addiction and racial inequality affecting the lives of our community,” Stone said.

Ginny Blake can be contacted at [email protected].