Oct 27

Sam Quinones Luncheon Sponsored by the Stephen S. Smith Center

Join us as nationally renowned author and speaker Sam Quinones discusses his latest book, "The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth."

11 a.m.: "The Fentanyl Crisis" panel discussion (BQ1)
Noon: Luncheon keynote (Duff Banquet Room)
1 p.m.: Panel with community leaders, advocates and experts (BQ1)

All are welcome to join us at panel discussions before and after the luncheon address. Parking passes are not required for event attendees.

This event is complimentary and open to the public. RSVPs are required by October 18.

Duff Banquet Room @ Cintas Center
1624 Herald Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45207
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Friday, October 27, 2023 11:00am ET

Free

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Sam Quinones is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist, a reporter for 35 years, and author of four acclaimed books of narrative nonfiction. He is a veteran reporter on immigration, gangs, drug trafficking, the border.

He is formerly a reporter with the L.A. Times, where he worked for 10 years. Before that, he made a living as a freelance writer residing in Mexico for a decade.

During his keynote address, Sam will detail his latest book, The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth.

In The Least of Us, New York Times bestselling author, Sam Quinones, tackles the more terrifying next stages of the opioid epidemic. As the New York Times reports, “As the nation struggled to put back the pieces of the opioid crisis, Quinones was among the first to see the dangers that lay ahead: synthetic drugs and a new generation of kingpins whose product could be made in Magic Bullet blenders. In fentanyl, traffickers landed a painkiller a hundred times more powerful than morphine. They laced it into cocaine, meth, and counterfeit pills to cause tens of thousands of deaths―at the same time as Mexican traffickers made methamphetamine cheaper and more potent than ever, creating swaths of mental illness and a surge in homelessness across the United States.

Quinones is one of the earliest reporters to tackle the complexities of the ongoing drug crisis. Together with his earlier Dreamland, The Least of Us confirms his place as a leading chronicler of an American nightmare. Joseph Barbato, author

The least of us, Quinones is quick to emphasize, is in all of us. And that’s the point and the power of his work: to shine a bright light not only on the pathways by which drugs traverse this country, but also on the desperate pain that so many among us are in. New York Times

Panel Discussions

11 a.m.: "The Fentanyl Crisis" with Sam Quinones; Meagan Guthrie, Director of the Hamilton County Addiction Response; and Special Agent Orville Greene, head of DEA operations in Michigan and Ohio

1 p.m.: Discussion and networking with community members, leaders, advocates and experts dedicated to ending the opiate epidemic: Honorable Nicole L. Sanders, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas; Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, Hamilton County Coroner; and Captain Tom Fallon, Commander of the Hamilton County Heroin Task Force