and welcome back to our cnn town hall about this country s fentanyl crisis. we could not end this evening without talking to the people on the front lines of this battle against fentanyl. i m joined now by dr. ayanna jordan, associate professor of psychiatry at nyu, and lou or ten zero, a former doctor who is in recovery after becoming addicted himself after prescribing painkillers to patients. he helps others now with their recoveries, as the executive director of the clarksburg mission in west virginia. thank you both so much for being with us. you actually brought narcan with you. i did, i did. so, show, i think it s important for people to see it. i haven t actually seen it up closely. thank you for that opportunity. before i get started, i really just want to express my sincere empathy for the people that are here today. it s not easy, it s more to say, i am beyond sorry for your loss. but i am committed to doing things is a friendly, okay. my role as a phy
addicted himself while prescribing painkillers to patients. he helps others now with their recoveries, as the executive director of the clarksburg mission in west virginia. thank you both so much for being with us. you actually brought narcan with you. i did, i did. so, show, i think it s important for people to see it. i haven t actually seen it up closely. thank you for that opportunity. before i get started, i really just want to express my sincere empathy for the people that are here today. it s not easy, it s more to say, i am beyond sorry for your loss. but i am committed to doing things differently, okay. my role as a physician is to save lives, all right. i don t want to blow people up. i want to stop this from ever happening again, right. all right. so, thank you for that. [applause] and just as a physician, this is emotional for you. because you see this up close. i see this up close all the time. and i feel like we are not concentrating on the science
emotional for you. because you see this up close. i see this up close all the time. and i feel like we are not concentrating on the science. this is not a political issue. i also am a scientist, right, so i have it md and ph.d.. so, not only do i treat patients who suffer from substance use disorder, but also just misused substances. and as we know, it is totally expected that people are going to use drugs. that s what teenagers do. that s what adults do. we learn from covid, myself included. the isolation, the forced lockdown, i use substances more than i had in the past as well. we are suffering. and so, we cannot criminalize our way out of this. we need to focus on the science,
because you see this up close. i see this up close all the time. and i feel like we are not concentrating on the science. this is not a political issue. i also am a scientist, right, so i have it mbn a ph.d.. so, not only do i treat patients who suffer from substance use disorder, but also just misuse substances. and as we know, it is totally expected that people are going to use drugs. that s what teenagers do. that s what adults do. we learn from covid, myself included. the isolation, the fourth lockdown, i use substances more than i had in the past as well. we are suffering. and so, we cannot criminalize our way out of this. we need to focus on the science, what works. we know that investment in mental health services, the dea