BANGOR - Marcella Sorg, a forensic and medical anthropologist, will speak on "Drug Addiction: Theirs and Ours" from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the College Center of University College of Bangor.

Sorg has worked in substance abuse-related consulting and research since 1980. Since 2002 she has focused on the epidemiology of drug-induced deaths, particularly in rural populations.

She is director of the rural drug and Alcohol research program at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, University of Maine, and a guest researcher with the federal government's Community Epidemiology Work Group, National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Sorg works closely with the national medical examiner community in the study of drug-related deaths and sits on the Governor's Substance Abuse Services Commission.

In her talk, Sorg will emphasize both illegal and prescription drugs and discuss the consequences of the misuse and abuse of these drugs. Accidental drug-related deaths are now the No. 2 cause of accidental deaths in the U.S., just behind automobile fatalities. She will provide information about the issues in Maine, other rural states, and Canada.