Narcos and Addicts: The Opioids Crisis in America

Thursday, 17 October 2024

11.00 - 12.00

This is an in-person event

Abstract:

In the last 25 years more than 1 million Americans have died of a drug overdose. Between 2016 and 2021 fentanyl overdose deaths in the US more than tripled, with drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl increasing by 279%. In just the last two years nearly 70% of total overdose deaths in the US have been associated with synthetic opioids, specifically fentanyl.

This talk will offer an overview of the origins and evolution of the Opioids crisis in the US and of its impact on US-Mexico relations. It will address both sides of the crisis—the demand as well as the supply of heroin and fentanyl. What have been the main factors underpinning the three waves of the US opioids crisis? What has driven the Opioids crisis and what role have Mexico and Mexican drug cartels played in it? And what has been the impact of this crisis on the drug prohibition norm and the international drug control regime? The talk should be of interest to all who are concerned with the role of norms and institutions in international politics.

Speaker:

Mónica del Carmen Serrano Carreto is Professor of International Relations at El Colegio de México. She is also an Associate Fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and a member of the international faculty of the Doctoral Programme in Studies on Organized Crime at L'Università degli Studi di Milano. Prof. Serrano’s research focuses on the interfaces between security, drug trafficking, organized crime and human rights. Professor Serrano will serve a four-year term (2024-2028) at the UNU Council.

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