2016 2016: School of Law students look toward solutions to opioid crisis

UMass Law Review to host roundtable discussion featuring police chiefs, judges, and doctors April 8

The UMass Law Review, a student-led organization that publishes a biannual law journal, have chosen to bring together stakeholders on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic. The roundtable discussion will highlight the law review’s annual symposium looking toward legal solutions to the crisis. The roundtable will take place April 8, 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the law school’s Moot Courtroom.

Today UMass Law students and faculty welcomed emergency medicine specialist Dr. Jennifer Pope, of St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, for a discussion on the opioid epidemic’s impact on local emergency rooms. The discussion served as a precursor to the April 8 symposium.

“The opioid crisis is about a disease and we need to treat it as such,” Dr. Pope said. “It affects the very young, the very old, and everyone in between. We need to educate the community. That education needs to start early and as a society we need to change our expectations around pain medicine.”

The April 8 roundtable will include:

Effective in Rhode Island:

How the Rhode Island Senate seeks to improve the crisis

10-10:30 a.m.

Rhode Island State Senator Joshua Miller

A Special Message from

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn

10:30-11 a.m.

District Attorney Quinn will discuss how the opioid crisis is prevalent in lawyering and the District Attorney’s Office.

Rehab or Jail:

Police Chiefs speak out on those in possession of opiates

11 a.m.-noon

Taunton Police Chief Edward J. Walsh, Somerset Police Chief George McNeil, and Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz

A View from the Bench:

How judges see the crisis in the courtroom

12:30-1:30 p.m.

District Court Justices Hon. Bernadette L. Sabra, Hon. Daniel J. O’Shea, and Hon. Kevan Cunningham

The Medical World:

How doctors see the opioid crisis every day

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Monica Bharel, MD, MPH                                                                             Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner 

Dr. Jonathan Schwartz, MD

The UMass Law Review publishes two issues per annual volume. The January issue is a general-interest publication open to works on any legal topic. The May issue is in a symposium format that features works relating to the trends and issues in a particular area of law.

UMass Law, located in Dartmouth, is the only public law school in Massachusetts and was established in 2010. It is conveniently located 30 miles from Providence, RI, and 60 miles from Boston, MA. UMass Law is committed to ensuring access to an affordable legal education for students who hope to pursue justice and serve others through the practice of law. UMass Law is provisionally approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654,312-988-6738.

The opioid crisis is about a disease and we need to treat it as such. It affects the very young, the very old, and everyone in between.