- Highly addictive prescription and illegal drugs
- Opioids are a highly addictive class of prescription and illegal drugs that can reduce pain and provide a euphoric feeling.
- Prescription opioids
- People who become dependent on prescription opioids — especially those with mental health conditions — sometimes go on to use heroin or other illegal opioids that are associated with a high risk of overdose.
- Caution about fentanyl
- One of the largest contributors to overdose deaths right now is fentanyl, which is a prescription drug that can be misused. Covertly produced fentanyl is also imported into the US and mixed with other illicit drugs, sometimes unbeknownst to the user.
- Depict opioid dangers in storytelling
- Tell stories that safely depict the dangers of opioids, their connection to mental health challenges, and advances in treatment and interventions that could save lives.
Storytelling Tips
Diversify Representation
- Expand the narrative and help communities of color see hopeful stories of treatment and recovery.
- While opioid misuse is more prevalent in the white community, Black and other BIPOC individuals have higher rates of overdose and are less likely to receive treatment.
Depict Effective, Realistic Help-Seeking and Treatment
- Show people getting treatment before reaching the point of crisis, and addressing the underlying mental health conditions that can be a factor in opioid misuse.
- In addition, find ways to highlight the effectiveness of medications to treat opioid use disorder — like methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone — and the overdose reversal drug naloxone, which can play a role in saving lives.
Represent the Complex Causes of Mental Health Challenges
- Expand the discussion beyond the addictive nature of opioids to underlying conditions that, if treated, might prevent misuse.
- There is a documented connection between mental health conditions and substance misuse, including opioid misuse.
Consider the Impact of Language
- Try to use “opioid use” and “opioid misuse,” and “opioid use disorder” when possible.
- Previously, terms like “addict” and “drug abuse” were used to describe misuse and substance use disorder. This terminology reinforces the false narrative that substance misuse is a moral failing on part of the person struggling.
- For more guidelines around language, check out the language section of this guide.
Avoid Sharing Potentially Harmful Details
- Avoid providing any details in your story that might help viewers obtain, use, or hide usage of opioids.
- People who are currently misusing substances or in recovery from using those substances can have impulses and cravings triggered by depictions of drug use.
- Additionally, when stories give specifics about how opioids are inappropriately obtained, they could provide a blueprint for people struggling with opioid misuse to obtain these drugs through similar channels, including illegal means that increase the risk of dangerous substances such as fentanyl being unknowingly included.
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