When it comes to the opioid crisis, Michael Cipoletti, assistant professor of forensic science, says information is key. That’s why, for the past several weeks, he has given a number of drug awareness lectures across southwestern Pennsylvania.

“Most of it is just trying to answer the public’s questions about how we got here,” said Cipoletti. “How did we get to this point? Because I think most practical people understand that you have to understand the nature of a problem in order to try to solve it.”

Cipoletti said there are a lot of different layers to the drug industry, making the nation’s epidemic a difficult one to solve. In his lectures, he breaks it down into distinct areas, to educate listeners about how to properly use prescription opioids, the history of how the problem came to be and legislation and congressional action.

The problem begins, said Cipoletti, when “there is a pill for every [problem],” allowing society to rely on medication.

“I don’t want people to be afraid to go to the doctor or even get a doctor’s advice,” he said, “but, I try to make them understand that not everybody has your best interest at heart – you are your own best advocate – you have to educate yourself. You can’t just trust blindly.”

These pills did not just appear, Cipoletti said – they’ve always been available. While in the past, law enforcement has blamed drug dealers for addiction crises, the opioid epidemic is distinct: these drugs are coming from legitimate corporations – not the street.

At this point, the number of deaths in Pennsylvania due to drug overdose has been deemed statistically significant by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention; and each day across the U.S., more than 1,000 people are treated for not using prescription opioids as directed.

It is this staggering reality that has brought about many lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies across the nation, including 23 separate suits filed by Greene County just last month.

Cipoletti said legislative action is a “last resort” way for society to deal with the mounting costs the epidemic has placed on communities: for awareness, education and recovery. The costs far surpass the resources of the county, Cipoletti said, and often, there is a higher percentage of prescriptions sent to counties with lower affluence. The reason behind this correlation is unknown.

“That’s a question that needs to be answered, and maybe some of these lawsuits can help to answer that question,” he said.

Cipoletti said that even if fault is not completely found in pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals, they are at least partially responsible, and in his lectures, he tries to convey the need for patients to be skeptical. He said that oftentimes, doctors and pharmaceuticals can be “unscrupulous, almost like the street dealers,” with the added threat of drug availability on the internet.

“I try to tell people: don’t mistrust your doctor, but ask them appropriate questions,” said Cipoletti.

His advice given during lectures is centered around the necessity for people to be educated on the substance and its severity, he said.

Cipoletti gave his first lecture in 2015, and has been continuously invited around the state by different entities ever since. At this point, he has spoken at town halls, drug programs and schools about drug awareness.

Driving the motivation behind his presentations, Cipoletti sees it as his responsibility to share what he knows as a forensic science professor and law enforcement professional with the public.

“I think it just comes with the job,” Cipoletti said. “Or maybe it’s the personality. I like to help people […] If you have information that can be useful to people, you should share it, you shouldn’t necessarily keep it to yourself.”

For him, education is the only way to make a lasting change.

“No matter how many laws you pass or how many people you put in jail or how much you regulate, there is always going to be a supply,” he said. “So, the way around it is educating people about the risk.”