GALLOWAY — This month wraps up the first semester of a new course offered at Stockton University that focuses mostly on the current opioid crisis that has a stranglehold on countless New Jersey residents.

A closer look at the problem is on display for the public on Monday and Wednesday in the form of the students' final project.

The university's "Drug Epidemic" course had a waitlist ahead of its first run this semester. It'll now be offered yearly to 25 students.

"A lot of the students have personal connections to the epidemic. There's also students in the class who work as EMTs and police officers," said Assistant Professor of Law Kerrin Wolf, who co-instructs the class with Assistant Professor of Health Science Michele Previti.

The course looks mostly at the opioid crisis through a variety of academic disciplines, and details the history of past drug epidemics.

“We have been teaching about this in our own classes and realized there was enough content for a course of its own and it was a topic students are interested in,” Wolf said.

For their final project, students have created and gathered items related to the opioid epidemic, to share in an "opioid museum" exhibit. Items include boxes of naloxone, the opioid antidote, that were on the scene of an overdose, and a t-shirt honoring a young man who passed away in 2019 due to drugs.

"They've also each written a narrative about someone who's been affected by the opioid epidemic," Wolf said.

Students will present their projects in the C and D Wing Atrium from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

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Contact reporter Dino Flammia at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com.

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