Katie Prout talks opioid overdose deaths, CTA

🚆 Join us at Chi Hack Night next Tuesday [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( [Every life counts:]( [Tracking opioid overdose deaths on the CTA]( [Join Features Writer Katie Prout at Chi Hack Night on Tuesday, March 19 at 6PM.]( In order to understand the scope of a public health crisis, you must count the dead. While the Medical Examiner’s Office does track the number of opioid-overdose related deaths that occur in Cook County every year, no city department tracks how many of those deaths occur on the CTA, including the CTA. This matters, because while the majority of overdoses that result in death in the county do occur in private homes, the ones that happen on the CTA–where hundreds of unhoused Chicagoans shelter every winter–are visible, public, and thus present more opportunity for reversal. According to Katie Prout of the Chicago Reader, 158 people died from overdose on the CTA between 2018-2022. That number is likely an underestimate. For her talk, Prout will discuss how she came to those numbers, how other cities (and transit agencies) across the U.S. are tracking those numbers, and the questions that remain. [More information: RSVP to attend in-person or online]( [Catch up on Katie Prout’s CTA stories:]( [Two train rides in November | December 2023]( A grieving mother and a CTA chief are pushing for change in the CTA: one from the outside, one from within. [How many opioid overdoses occur on the CTA? | October 2023]( Over the last four years, more than 150 people have died from opioid-related overdoses on the CTA—but CTA officials aren’t keeping track. [Anatomy of an intervention | July 2023]( When a problem of discomfort becomes a problem of safety on the CTA, community violence disruption can be a powerful tool. [‘Why you talking to a bum?’ | April 2023]( When the very presence of unhoused people on the CTA is considered a public safety concern, who is the public, and what are we keeping them safe from? [Best action to take when an unhoused Chicagoan is sleeping across three seats on the train | April 2023]( Nothing. Do absolutely nothing. [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Website icon]( [YouTube icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616