Papers of the Week

Human beings have long consumed opiates and opioids for pleasure and as a treatment for numerous ailments, most notably pain. North America is currently in the grips of a crisis of opioid-related overdoses, and stigma is considered a major driver of the harms. While it is well established that substance use in general is highly stigmatized, stigma is a complex concept and opioid-related stigma is not well understood. A lack of clarity on opioid-related stigma has practice and policy implications in terms of understanding the sources of opioid stigma, how it manifests in various contexts, its impact on affected groups, and the development of effective strategies to redress it.