Maria and Julio travel to Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT for a live show to discuss addiction and mental health in POC communities. They're joined by guests Kelvin Young, sound healer and certified recovery coach, Kenyatta Thompson, senior community organizer at Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice, and Taylor Ford, statewide youth and family coordinator with FAVOR, Inc. The overdose epidemic is often treated as an issue within white communities - who do make up a majority of opioid overdose victims - but a CDC report released earlier this year found that black and Latino individuals are overdosing and dying increasingly faster than white individuals. In Connecticut, where the Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma was based, 93 percent of overdoses in the state are caused by opioids, making it ground zero for the epidemic. In this episode, they talk about the underlying roots of addiction and mental health issues in communities of color.    ITT Staff Picks:

• New drug laws could worsen the opioid crisis. Connecticut can do better, op-thompson-jones-connecticut-laws-fentanyl-0714-20190714-ruex2r666faljjisokciouk3p4-story.html">Kenyatta's co-authored OpEd in the Hartford Courant
• To Address Addiction, Confront Racism in Our Health and Justice Systems, via Filter
• From Vox: You can’t overdose on fentanyl by touching it. The myth that you can, however, is genuinely dangerous. Thanks to the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut and the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund who made this live show possible.    This episode was mixed by Leah Shaw.  For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy  

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