Introduction Blog
Hello, everyone. My name is Anthony Akator, and I am deeply honored and excited to share this experience with you.
My research project endeavors to understand how state and local policymakers and communities can combat the fentanyl epidemic. The unprecedented growth of fentanyl consumption has had deeply negative consequences for both public health and national security in the United States.
The potency of fentanyl combined with an American public still reeling from the opioid crisis has produced a situation in which public health officials are scrambling to protect Americans from themselves. Conversely, the fentanyl epidemic has also presented many problems for American national security as the production and sale of fentanyl involves many transnational criminal organizations, threatening the safety of Americans across the country particularly in communities near the southern border.
Pima County in particular has been enormously harmed by the fentanyl epidemic and the lingering effects of that harm is the key motivation for this project. The project goal for this research paper is to develop policy recommendations and a local strategy for Pima County and Arizona to address the fentanyl epidemic and strengthen their ability to combat organized crime and illicit narcotics. One of the critical components of this research project is how the United States and Mexico can collaborate to curb the spread of fentanyl.
This is where my internship in collaboration with the University of Arizona comes into play. Working with political science students at the U of A and the Florence Project to transcribe and interpret documents for immigrant communities will bolster America’s integral relationship with Mexico while improving my understanding of the security collaboration between the two nations. Furthermore, through analyzing these documents I hope to understand how subnational actors across the southern border have worked together to address the spread of illicit narcotics.
Through conducting this research, I hope to propel my academic and professional interest in public policy and international affairs. My ambition is to become a federal prosecutor and the public servant our community deserves, and I hope my research is a foundational step in that process.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to spending the next few months with you.
-Anthony Akator Jr.
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