The Fentanyl Crisis

October 7, 2025 - 3:00 pm

Room 9207
The Graduate Center, CUNY

This event explores the global fentanyl supply chain through the lens of the newly published volume Fentanyl: From the Labs to the Streets, which brings together twenty-one experts from multiple disciplines to analyze the complex ecosystem behind the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States. The discussion will examine the transnational nature of fentanyl production and distribution, the roles of both criminal and state actors, and the global interconnections that sustain this illicit trade. Panelists will highlight key phases in the supply chain and the mechanisms that shape them, offering insights relevant to drug policy, international security, public health, and organized crime.

Jonathan D. Rosen (Ph.D., University of Miami) is Assistant Professor in the Professional Security Studies Department at New Jersey City University. His research focuses on drug trafficking, organized crime, and security in Latin America. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books on these topics and has published in journals such as Trends in Organized Crime, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Contexto Internacional. He has conducted field research across the region, including a major study of gang dynamics in El Salvador.

Adam Isacson (M.A., Yale University) is Director of the Defense Oversight program at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), where he monitors U.S. security cooperation with Latin America, including military and police assistance, arms transfers, and civil-military relations. His work focuses on the human rights implications of security policy, organized crime, and border enforcement. He has conducted extensive field research along the U.S.-Mexico and Mexico-Guatemala borders, and has written widely on regional security dynamics, criminal violence, and U.S. drug policy.

Deborah Koetzle (Ph.D., University of Cincinnati) is Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at John Jay College, CUNY, and Director of The Corrections Lab. Her research focuses on correctional interventions, problem-solving courts, probation, reentry, and cross-cultural applications of evidence-based practices. She has led research projects across the Americas, including studies on incarceration and the rule of law in Central America. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, and the U.S. State Department, among others.

Moderator: Enrique Desmond Arias, The Graduate Center/ Baruch College, CUNY

TO REGISTER send email to bildner@gc.cuny.edu