stigma

SAMHSA Eyes Budget Boost—and Cutting “Abuse” From Its Name

President Biden has released his budget request for fiscal year 2024, including funding increases for harm reduction programs. It would…

March 15, 2023

To a US Methadone Recipient, Visiting Australia Was Shocking

Asking for help requires humility, but you shouldn’t have to humble yourself into the dirt and kiss someone’s feet to…

December 20, 2022

A Year After I Quit Drugs, the Stigma Still Haunts Me

From the moment I began openly acknowledging my opioid use—often via self-deprecating jokes, at least to friends—people shamed me. This…

December 14, 2022

The Stigmatization of Smoking Is Not Harm Reduction

Smoking has been stigmatized for some time. Once it was normal for idolized film actors, philosophers and writers to be…

November 1, 2022

Stigmatizing Drug Use Is Killing Us, But Why Is It So Hard to Stop?

Despite significant strides in drug policy in recent decades, and changing attitudes about some substances, stigmatization of people who use…

September 8, 2022

How Deep Does New Jersey’s Anti-Stigma Messaging Really Run?

Counties across the state of New Jersey trumpet their commitment to ending stigma against people with addiction. In 2018, for…

July 21, 2022

When Putin Labels Zelensky a “Drug Addict,” It Implicates the Wider World

After two months, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has directly caused unknown tens of thousands of deaths, with widespread evidence of…

May 2, 2022

San Francisco Hospital Program Offers Harm Reduction to Patients

In some hospitals in the United States, doctors will send people home with prescriptions for opioid use disorder medications like…

February 24, 2022

What I Wish Someone Had Said to Me When I Started Using Drugs

When I began using drugs, I didn’t have anyone I could safely go to for advice or help. Nobody in…

December 14, 2021

The Ways We “Monsterize” Drug Use, Pain and People

[This article is an adapted excerpt from On Opium: Pain, Pleasure, and Other Matters of Substance, which was published in…

November 30, 2021