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How Is The Opioid Crisis Affecting Children?

The opioid crisis has been devastating to a generation of Americans. In Arizona alone, 790 people died of opioid overdoses in 2016. But what about the effects on their children?

Dr. Ira Chasnoff sheds some light on what happens to babies and children who are exposed to opioids at birth. What do we know about their life trajectory and how it affects their development and cognitive skills?

Chasnoff is president of NTI Upstream in Chicago and a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He completed some of the earliest work on this topic and now helps develop programs like Cradles to Crayons in Maricopa County that support homeless and low-income children.

Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.