Opioid overdose is an indiscriminate killer, affecting parents, students, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and the elderly. In 2024, more than 50,000 people, from all manner of background, died from an opioid overdose in the United States. In Canada, between April 2024 and March 2025, there were 6,601 apparent opioid toxicity deaths and 34,639 EMS responses to suspected opioid-related overdoses.
One factor contributing to these opioid overdoses and related deaths is stigma.
The hidden cost of stigma
There is a lot of stigma around drug use, especially opioid use, including negative attitudes, beliefs, labels, language, and behaviors that lead to discrimination and exclusion, creating barriers to treatment and recovery. Fear of judgment or unfair treatment associated with stigma can lead to individuals to avoid seeking help.
However, the reason people fall into substance use is often deep-rooted in multigenerational traumas, social and economic inequities, limited access to mental health resources, genetic predisposition, and pain medication mismanagement. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Although substance use disorders are chronic, treatable medical conditions, studies show people who have them often face stigma and discrimination in part because others do not understand these disorders or how they can be effectively treated.”
A story of the danger of stigma
Sarah, who works at a harm reduction organization in Calgary, Alberta, experiences firsthand the dangers of stigma in her work. “We’re all one or two decisions away from being in the shoes of individuals that often people stigmatize,” she says. “We don’t always have control of things that happen to us in our lives.”
She shared a story about a childhood friend who died from opioid poisoning, having started secretly using opioids to cope with the grief, trauma, and stress of raising multiple children on her own after her husband died. Her friend didn’t seek the support that she desperately needed.
Individuals, like Sarah’s friend, who are living with a substance use disorder may not disclose their substance use or seek help because they are ashamed or afraid of judgment and lack of empathy, even within a healthcare setting. Stigma can also contribute to further alienation, increased drug use, and, in the worst-case scenario, drug overdose.
This experience made Sarah realize that, “If we look at everyone who struggles with opioids as unworthy or somehow lesser, it makes it so much harder to help people. It is more than possible to break out of the crisis with the right kind of support, compassion, and patience.”
Changing how we view and treat individuals who are struggling with substance use costs nothing but can save lives.
Read Sarah’s full story here.
Reducing stigma through education
Education is a powerful tool to break the cycle of stereotyping those who use licit and illicit substances. Equipping schools, workplaces, community organizations, and public and healthcare professionals with information about opioid use and harm reduction strategies can help create a society that better understands opioid emergencies as well as the individuals who experience them.
In response, Emergent is working to combat the opioid epidemic. This is being done in part through life-saving solutions, such as NARCAN® Nasal Spray, which, when used as directed, can reverse an opioid overdose, as well as through empowering communities with outreach, public awareness campaigns, and education as part of our commitment to ensuring no one is left behind in our pursuit of protecting and saving lives.
By fostering a more informed and compassionate society, we can build the environment needed to help combat the opioid crisis.
Read more about Emergent’s new way forward for the opioid crisis here.