One Woman’s Fight to Make America Accept Drug Users as Humans

NPR AUDIO – ADDICT’S LIVES MATTER –

Nov. 19, 2023 – According to Vincent, this kind of stigma, rejection and isolation deepens the cycle of addiction and self-destructive behavior that leaves people like herself vulnerable.

The illegal drug supply has only gotten more dangerous since Vincent began using. A few years ago, before public health warnings were issued about the dangers of xylazine being mixed into fentanyl, Vincent used a dose of the chemical cocktail.

It left her with wounds that still haven’t healed. “It has eaten the skin off my entire arm,” she said. “I can’t even talk about it without crying.”

This part is hard for many Americans to understand. If drug use is so harmful, why don’t thoughtful people like Louise Vincent simply stop?

Research shows addiction doesn’t work like that.

It’s complex, hard to beat, tangled up in everything from mental illness and trauma to poverty and homelessness.

Federal researchers say roughly 27.2 million Americans experience some kind of drug addiction. Roughly 5 million to 6 million people in the U.S. misuse opioids every year.