{"id":54783,"date":"2019-03-25T16:57:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=54783"},"modified":"2025-10-17T18:13:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T22:13:49","slug":"reducing-stigma-opioid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/reducing-stigma-opioid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Reducing Stigma During the Opioid Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Reducing Stigma During the Opioid Crisis\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

On average, about 11 people die every day in Canada because of opioids, mostly the result of accidental overdoses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a devastating health crisis<\/a> and a complex social issue where the entwined challenges are magnified by the stigma around substance abuse<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor so many years, I experienced this stigma,\u201d Charlotte Smith<\/a>, a Sociology master\u2019s student at Carleton University, told a March 21, 2019 panel discussion intended to raise awareness about the impacts of stigma, why words matter, and the powerful role the media play in shaping perceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reducing
Charlotte Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe words that you hear, from crackhead to crack whore, become how you start to see yourself,\u201d said Smith, telling a room full of Journalism and Health Sciences students that she started using pills at her alternative high school \u2014 \u201ca school for \u2018druggies\u2019 and \u2018dropouts,\u2019 where every student was dealing with trauma\u201d \u2014 and wasn\u2019t steered toward treatment as her struggle with drugs deepened. \u201c\u2018Addict\u2019 is probably the nicest thing I\u2019ve been called.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she was 20, smoking crack and selling herself to anybody who would give her a place to sleep for the night, she was allowed to walk out of a hospital covered in dried blood after a suicide attempt, without even being given any food or a bus ticket, let alone being sent to psychological counselling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, said Smith, police saw her \u201cas a good girl who was in the wrong crowd, as somebody who just needed help\u201d \u2014 until she started to look like<\/em> the stereotypical image of somebody who uses drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point, whenever she had a run-in with the law, she was told: \u201cYou\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who are addicted to drugs or alcohol almost always face \u201ca constellation of issues,\u201d said Smith. \u201cUsers don\u2019t just need clean needles, but access to housing and mental health support. What people need most is opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Reducing<\/figure>\n\n\n

Framing the Opioid Crisis as a Public Health Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supriya Sharma, the senior medical advisor to the deputy minister of Health Canada, defined stigma as \u201ca complex construct that gets in the way of framing the opioid crisis as a public health crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cBecause of stigma, people are dying, and they\u2019re dying alone,\u201d said Sharma, who delivered opening remarks and spoke at the panel on behalf of Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Stigma, said Sharma, means that in western Canada, where naloxone kits are available to counter opioid overdoes, the life-saving medicine is often simply not picked up. It means that parents don\u2019t take time off work to help their children get treatment because they\u2019re too ashamed to tell their employers and colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reducing
Supriya Sharma, senior medical advisor to the deputy minister of Health Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Drug addiction, she said, \u201cis a chronic relapsing neurological disorder.\u201d Moreover, the associated \u201csocial isolation rewires the networks in your brain\u201d and makes people feel less worthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tumor is treated like an illness, said Sharma. Addiction is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel was introduced by Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon, who said that \u201cstigma often prevents people from getting the help that they need\u201d and praised the federal government\u2019s timely anti-stigma campaign<\/a>, which targets the language people use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was moderated by Prof. Sarah Everts<\/a>, Carleton\u2019s CTV Chair in Digital Science Journalism, and included Rob Boyd, Oasis Program director at the Sandy Hill Community Centre<\/a>, home to Ottawa\u2019s first supervised permanent safe injection site<\/a>, and Ottawa Deputy Police Chief Uday Singh Jaswal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of the event, when Sharma asked for a show of hands from attendees who knew somebody who has suffered from substance abuse, every hand in the room went up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with mental health issues, public education is an important step toward reducing stigma, said Sharma, as is interpersonal contact \u2014 so we start to see people who are sick not as \u201cthe other,\u201d but as our relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Reducing<\/figure>\n\n\n

Creating an Environment Where Community Can be Built<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Sandy Hill Community Centre \u2014 where Carleton Chemistry Prof. Jeff Smith is part of a research project<\/a> using mass spectrometry to test drug samples before clients use \u2014 Boyd and his colleagues work with people who inject drugs or smoke crack in a health-care environment, without judgment or stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cMy program is set up because there\u2019s a recognition that within health care and social services, stigma is problematic and people can\u2019t get help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place where people can talk about issues or concerns that are important to them and get real practical help to get through the day. That might be access to a pipe or a needle, or access to a space where there\u2019s a nurse present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally, it\u2019s a mental health drop-in, where people can avoid the ongoing heavy oppression of stigma, with no expectation that they have to do anything in exchange for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reducing
Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Client feedback at the centre indicates they believe that staff \u201cknow who we are . . . and love us anyway,\u201d said Boyd, who quoted from Chasing the Scream<\/em>, a book about the war on drugs, and said that \u201cthe opposite of addiction is connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to create an environment where community can be built,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cIn my opinion, a safe injection site is providing treatment, because we\u2019re trying to change people\u2019s relationships with their substances. People will start using fewer substances when their social needs are met.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Which echoes one of Smith\u2019s comments from the panel: \u201cWhen you use drugs, you\u2019re always alone. Because we\u2019re all struggling, it\u2019s very hard to help one another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Reducing<\/figure>\n\n\n

Treating Substance Abuse as a Health Challenge, Not a Policing Issue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaswal noted that the prevalence of substance abuse among police officers and other first responders ranges from 20 to 30 per cent, compared to about 10 per cent for the general population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you develop a problem that becomes an issue for yourself, it becomes very difficult to help others with the same problems,\u201d he said, adding that police departments need to change how their members are taught about the roles they can play toward improving community safety as part of a broader societal shift toward treating substance abuse as a health challenge, not a policing issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe interact with people from across our community,\u201d said Jaswal. \u201cI grew up in a home where we viewed substance abuse as a personal failure. When I take that framework, and look at human nature, we hate or dislike the things that we fear. When we encounter people who remind us of this challenge, we can treat them poorly or with indifference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reducing
Prof. Sarah Everts, CTV Chair in Digital Science Journalism<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Taking off her moderator\u2019s hat and stepping into her role as a science journalism professor, Everts talked about what media \u2014 including young journalists in the room \u2014 can do to help reduce stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporters can make it an \u201cintentional practice to stop using stigmatizing words,\u201d she said, going on to offer a three-step approach to more sensitive storytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, when choosing who to interview, talk to people who have first-hand knowledge of opioids. \u201cTo the journalism students in the audience, don\u2019t just talk to doctors,\u201d said Everts.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cDon\u2019t just talk about<\/em> people who use drugs. Talk to<\/em> people who use drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Second, do a better job framing stories about drugs. Before sending a story to your editor, consider another chronic condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, and replace the term \u201cdrug use.\u201d Would the story still stand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, stop blaming victims. Go beyond reporting opioid deaths, said Everts, and investigate cracks in the health-care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, don\u2019t just write about the people who are being hurt. Look at the system \u2014 such as the role of medical schools, health regulators and doctors being lobbied to prescribe OxyContin \u2014 that led to the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Reducing<\/figure>\n\n\n

Separating Abstinence From Recovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyd also offered his suggestions for journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop repeating \u201cmoral panic\u201d stories, such as cases of fentanyl being absorbed through skin, which is not possible. Journalists have a responsibility to not perpetuate stories about non-existent risks, he said, and to really question things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t do stories about \u201cirrational drug users,\u201d urged Boyd. Instead, do stories on \u201cirrational policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reducing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond stigma, the number one barrier that prevents people from seeking treatment, he said, is that they don\u2019t want to stop using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to separate abstinence from recovery,\u201d said Boyd.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cPeople might have a recovery goal that is really just managed use. We have to be really cautious about pushing people into a conventional notion of what rehab is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During a question-and-answer session at the end of the panel, Scott Hannant<\/a> \u2014 a Carleton Journalism instructor and interim director of public affairs and communications at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction <\/a>\u2014 stood in the audience and made one of the most resonant comments of the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t call somebody a food abuser,\u201d he said, \u201cif they had an eating disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On average, about 11 people die every day in Canada because of opioids, mostly the result of accidental overdoses. It is a devastating health crisis and a complex social issue where the entwined challenges are magnified by the stigma around substance abuse. \u201cFor so many years, I experienced this stigma,\u201d Charlotte Smith, a Sociology master\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":54792,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28,54,13,25],"cu_story_tag":[1920,1921,1923,1929],"class_list":["post-54783","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-health-wellness","cu_story_type-research-discovery","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-public-and-global-affairs","cu_story_tag-graduate-studies","cu_story_tag-president"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98571,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54783\/revisions\/98571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=54783"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=54783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}