Welcome back to the Politics of Prosecution Podcast! This podcast examines the interaction between politics, broadly defined, and criminal prosecution on the local, state and federal levels. Our goal is to produce a variety of shows using different media. This is our third(!) series. This series looks closely at particular issues and how they relate to the intersection politics of prosecution and is produced by student volunteers and High Point University Criminal Justice professor Scott Ingram.
The first episode in this series examines the opioid crisis in the United States and how prosecutors have addressed it. In the November 2019 elections, many prosecutors ran, in part, on the promise to prosecute people responsible for opioid overdose deaths. Prosecutors can address the problem in two ways. First they can propose legislation. Second, and more likely, they can prosecute those who distribute opioids. The episode focuses on this latter route.
Sources for this episode:
o https://www.georgetownbehavioral.com/blog/origin-and-causes-of-opioid-epidemic
o https://www.optum.com/health-insights/opioid-crisis-myths.html
o https://englishmountain.com/8-myths-about-opioids/
o People v Tseng 30 Cal.App.5th 117 (Cal.App. 2018)
o Thomas v State 186 A.2d 857 (Md. App. 2018)
o https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/26/federal-prosecutors-open-criminal-probe-of-opioid-makers-and-distributors-report-says.html
A special thank you goes to HPU’s Media Services Librarian Josh Harris for allowing us to use the Mini-Studio and his outstanding recording equipment.
Taylor Irish performed the editing this week.

Comments, questions, concerns or criticisms? Contact us here:
Twitter: @Poli_Pros
Instagram: Poli.n.Pros
Email: poli.n.pros@gmail.com
You can find this podcast on iTunes and Spotify.