SUD Talks 2017 event to highlight addiction crisis

Addiction — from the perspective of treatment providers, researchers, law enforcement, politicians and journalists — will be the focus of SUD Talks 2017, a community and industry event in Delray Beach on Saturday.

The annual event features a collection of speakers presenting in a “TED Talk” format. A panel discussion will feature Palm Beach Post investigative reporters Pat Beall and Christine Stapleton, members of a team that published a groundbreaking investigation of the heroin epidemic in Palm Beach County.

Other speakers include U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, Delray Beach Police Chief Jeff Goldman, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg and Palm Beach Post Managing Editor Nick Moschella.

Other members of the Palm Beach Post investigative team who produced “Heroin: Killer of a generation,” will also be available to discuss the project.

“We f e l t l i k e we r e a l l y needed to make an impact with this project,” Moschella said. “We needed to go beyond what other outlets have done. We thought, ‘How c an we really wake up the state and community to something that is killing a generation?’ ”

The event is sponsored by the Delray Beach Drug Task Force, several treatment providers, local businesses and Delray Beach Medical Center.

“There has never been a more relevant time for our nation to stand together as one in a call to action,” said Suzanne Spencer, former executive director of the task force and the founder and producer of SUD Talks. “We will share the model we have designed and implemented in Delray Beach to tackle these issues.”

SUD Talks 2017 begins at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Crest Theater, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Speakers will be available for interviews at 4:45 pm. Tickets are $27 and can be purchased at www.sudtalks.org