National Book Critics Circle Award-winning journalist Sam Quinones, a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times known for covering immigration, drug trafficking and gang violence, will speak on the origins and impacts of the opioid epidemic Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Call Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Quinones’ most recent nonfiction book is titled “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.” From the boardrooms of pharmaceutical companies to the streets of small town America, Quinones’ experience covering the rise of this health crisis paints a vivid picture of the epidemic that has scourged families across the country.

“Understanding the devastating realities opioids are causing in towns and cities across the U.S. is critical to the public health debate in our country – a debate that many of our current students will need to be informed about when they leave campus in a few years,” said Rosemary Avery, professor of policy analysis and management and Weiss Presidential Fellow. “Quinones’ unique perspective complements the research Cornell faculty and extension associates are currently undertaking to bring forth solutions to curb the incidence of opioid addiction and opioid deaths, and its impact communities in New York state and beyond.”

“Dreamland” won a National Book Critics Circle award for the Best Nonfiction Book of 2015 and was selected a best book of 2015 by Slate.com, Buzzfeed, the Boston Globe, and in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business by Nobel economics laureate Angus Deaton of Princeton University.

Following the presentation, a brief response will be offered by Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion and associate professor of sociology at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Monnat will also participate in a Q&A session with the audience.

The lecture is supported by Jennifer Koen-Horowitz ’93 and Mark Horowitz and co-sponsored by the College of Human Ecology, the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, the Sloan Program in Health Administration and the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.

Stephen D’Angelo is assistant director of communications at the College of Human Ecology.