The fourth episode in Changing The Narrative's series focuses on physicians and nurses health programs (PHPs). These programs monitor health care providers who have substance use disorders. Featured in this segment are multiple health care providers who have experienced addiction and have been through these programs. They discuss their experience, and the need for policy changes, specifically regarding the use of agonist therapies like buprenorphine and methadone. For more information visit: https://www.changingthenarrative.news/

The third episode in the Changing The Narrative series features civil rights attorney and patient advocate Kate Nicholson. Kate offers an in-depth and nuanced view of federal regulations and policies aimed at reducing the volume of prescription opioids and how patients such as herself have been caught in the crossfire. She discusses forced tapers, DEA investigations, and patients being abandoned by their doctors. For more information visit: www.https://www.changingthenarrative.news/

Changing The Narrative hosts webcasts about the various topics listed on www.changingthenarrative.news. This episode features a conversation with journalist Zachary Siegel and clinician Anne Giles about the way drug courts punish, instead of treat, substance use disorder.

Changing The Narrative hosts webcasts about the various topics listed on www.changingthenarrative.news. This first episode features a presentation by recovery researcher Robert Ashford, a pioneer in the study of bias and stigma in the language we use to discuss addiction, drug use, and recovery.

In the second episode of “Changing the Narrative,” experts Maia Szalavitz and Dr. Sarah Wakeman delve into the pervasive stigma of addiction and the need to dispel widespread misinformation about substance use, treatment, and recovery. The diagnosis of addiction is far too often misconstrued and conflated with dependence in the United States. This confusion, coupled with the persistent use of outdated language in political, medical, and media settings, creates significant barriers to treatment, worsening outcomes for individuals who use drugs. Additionally, misinformation, such as the false narrative that medications for opioid use disorder merely replace one addiction with another, perpetuates stigma and prevents widespread adoption of life-saving treatments as the overdose crisis rages on. Addiction, like any other disease, has a great prognosis when individuals receive compassionate care. Meeting people where they are with understanding and support saves lives. ​​Join us as we explore these critical issues and work to shift the conversation around addiction toward one of empathy and evidence-based care. Panelists: Sarah Wakeman, MD, Senior Medical Director for Substance Use Disorder at MassGeneral Brigham, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School Maia Szalavitz, Author of Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction, Contributing Opinion Writer for the New York Times Please visit Changing the Narrative (https://www.changingthenarrative.news/) for more information.

Episode 1: “Overdose as a white problem” In our inaugural episode just in time for Black History Month, experts debunk misinformation about the racial “face” of the overdose crisis and the supposed shift to more humane, science-based solutions. “Since the opioid epidemic is a white problem, it’s being addressed through a public health response.” The trope about how the “changing face of the epidemic” has led to a change in approach to America’s drug problems is wrong on both points. First, overdose is not a “white” problem at all. Native Americans have always been hit hardest by this crisis. And in many majority-minority jurisdictions, overdose has been endemic and fatalities are now rising at the highest rates. But this devastating impact has been largely erased from popular discourse, leading to the perception that white, rural communities have borne the brunt. And it is true that when rural and white communities began to see overdose deaths increase from prescription painkillers, Big Pharma and the economy became the culprits. This is in contrast to drug crises of the past, when criminality and moral failure of Black and Brown communities were used to rationalize punitive responses. The shift in this racial narrative has led to a more sympathetic rhetoric among policymakers and the media. But this change in rhetoric has not resulted in a major shift in approach. Which is where the narrative about “a public health response” also fails. Despite the lip service, there is a persistent gap in treatment, harm reduction, and social services more than twenty years into the crisis. Drug arrests still occur at a rapid clip and harsh enforcement remains the norm, as we continue to prioritize punishment over health and supportive services. The informed narrative is that America’s addiction to its racist drug war is now killing thousands of its white residents, as it continues to devastate communities of color. Moderator: Tracie M. Gardner, Senior Vice President of Policy Advocacy at the Legal Action Center. Panelists: Mark Jenkins, Founder and CEO of the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance. Dr. Helena Hansen, MD, PhD, Interim Chair of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and Interim Director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Professor Leo Beletsky, JD, MPH, Faculty Director of the Action Lab and the Changing the Narrative Initiative. Please visit Changing the Narrative (https://www.changingthenarrative.news/) for more information.