Language Matters
Hello! Welcome to Overdosed a weekly newsletter on drug policy and people who use drugs by me, Diane Roznowski.
The first few weeks of Overdosed will be a different format from the newsletter generally. They will be longer, but I hope you find them helpful. This will be a way for you to get to know me and for us to learn more about the underlying issues that the newsletter will cover. This week we’re talking about why the language we use to describe drug use and people who use drugs matters.
One of the first lessons we learn as children is that our words have power. We learn that the words we use matter and can hurt others.
The words we use when talking about drug use matter a lot. The words we use can be stigmatizing, and they can perpetuate stereotypes about people who use drugs. They can cause real harm to people who use drugs and/or people who have substance use disorders. Using the right words to talk about these issues is critically important. The right words can save lives.
Last week, I intentionally included some stigmatizing language to show how I felt or what I thought at a certain point in time. Sometimes when I talk about these issues with friends I will use these stigmatizing words as well. I do this in large part because my sister participated in Narcotics Anonymous groups and my mom has been involved in Al-Anon groups. Sometimes using the term “addiction” or the highly stigmatized term “addict” feels right to me. My sister had frequently identified herself as an addict and using her words still feels right in certain contexts. I feel comfortable judging when it is and when it isn’t an appropriate time, but many people don’t want to make those decisions, and that’s okay. Ideally, using language that isn’t stigmatized as often as possible is preferred, but it can be hard.
When I first started learning more about why language matters when talking about drug use, it was really hard for me. Then a man in long-term recovery who also professionally works on drug policy shared with me that there is a difference between the language used within mutual aid meetings and the language used outside of them. Suddenly it all made sense to me, and since then I have made my best efforts to use language that isn’t stigmatizing. It can be difficult as certain terms change, but making an effort to examine your language and change it is what really matters.
When trying to stop using a certain term or swap it out for a less stigmatizing one, we all mess up. When I mess up, I make the effort to correct my language and stress the change I have made. When I say a stigmatizing term, I pause and then restate what I was saying with a more appropriate term and emphasizing the change I have made. This usually leads to the person I am talking with asking me why I changed what I said. It opens the door for me to tell them that I used a stigmatizing term and am working on reducing the stigmatizing language I use.
Stigmatizing language further perpetuates stereotypes about people who use drugs and often spreads misinformation. It makes people ashamed to ask for help and makes an already deadly epidemic even more dangerous.
Language to Use (and Language to Avoid)
Substance Use (not substance abuse) - Substance use is neutral while abuse has a negative connotation and makes it sound like the person using drugs is to blame
Substance Use Disorder (not substance abuse disorder or addiction) - substance use disorder (SUD) is the recognized medical term — more on this next week!
Person Who Uses Drugs and People Who Use Drugs (not addict, junkie, drug abuser) - this is person-first language that recognizes the person who uses drugs first and foremost as a person. You will frequently see this abbreviated as PWUD (PWID stands for people who inject drugs)
Helpful Charts on Language
Further Reading
This week I have two articles written by Maia Szalavitz, a journalist and author who writes frequently about addiction and drugs. She writes for TIME.com, VICE, and the New York Times, among others, and is the author, most recently, of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain. She tweets as @maiasz (I’d highly recommend following her).
Other Notes
April is Alcohol Awareness Month
It would be a huge oversight if I didn’t mention that this month is Alcohol Awareness Month. Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Many statistics about deaths related to substance use disorders will purposefully leave out the numbers related to alcohol. I’d encourage everyone to learn how much alcohol is too much and read these tips to cut down on drinking. This pamphlet from the National Institutes of Health on Rethinking Drinking is also very informative.
Prescription Drug Take Back Day
Saturday 4/27 is the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. You can learn more about this Drug Enforcement Agency Initiative and find a collection site at takebackday.dea.gov. If you cannot go to one of those locations Saturday, you can find prescription drug drop boxes near you and see if your local CVS pharmacy is one of the select locations that recently started collecting unwanted prescriptions. If you can’t locate a disposal location near you, the FDA has determined a list of drugs that should be flushed if you cannot find another way to dispose of them.
Thank you for subscribing to Overdosed! If you know someone who may be interested in getting this as well, I would love for you to share it with them (and encourage them to subscribe here!) I would also love to know what you thought about the second newsletter here and any questions you have on drug use or substance use disorders here.
Until next Friday,