Federal Guidance Addresses Stigma of Opioid Use Disorder

Back in 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." More than 50 years later, it's clear that what was a war on drugs in principle turned into an assault on marginalized communities in practice. That’s a tone very different than what we heard from President Biden earlier this year during the State of the Union address.

At his address, the Biden said, "There is so much we can do: increase funding for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery. Get rid of outdated rules that stop doctors from prescribing treatments. And stop the flow of illicit drugs by working with state and local law enforcement to go after traffickers. If you’re suffering from addiction, know you are not alone. I believe in recovery, and I celebrate the 23 million Americans in recovery."

And it’s not just President Biden. Even conservative politicians like like Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton have advocated for treatment rather than punishment to address opiod addiction – a  a drug epidemic where white Americans largely have been the public face.

To be clear opioid use is a crisis. In 2019 over 70 percent of overdose deaths in the US involved an opioid. And according to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, overdose deaths between 2009 and 2019 actually hit Black communities the hardest.

Even as this crisis is being discussed in ways that are different from previous drug epidemics, there is still a lot of stigma for those seeking recovery from opioid use disorder, also known as OUD. This month the Department of Justice sent an important message with hopes of addressing that stigma. The DOJ issued guidance explaining that people who are recovering from opioid use disorder are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA. This includes anyone taking prescription medications as part of their treatment.

We speak with Ryan Hampton, an advocate and author of the book “UNSETTLED: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis.” Ryan is also a person in recovery from opioid addiction. We also speak with Kassandra Frederique, executive director at Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit that works to end the war on drugs.