8.8 Chapter Summary
Key Summary Points
- Stigma can lead to feelings of shame, contribute to a negative self-image, poor mental health, while impacting the health and treatment outcomes of PWUS.
- There are three different forms of stigma: social, self, and structural, each of which impacts PWUS in different ways.
- Stigma can make it difficult for PWUS to integrate into society and access resources for health, healing, and recovery.
- Prohibitionist policies and the politics that the war on drugs have generated have reinforced, and exacerbated the stigma faced by PWUS.
- Education efforts that focus on explaining the implications of stigmatizing language and the importance of using person-first language, are critical to overcoming drug-related stigma.
- Including the voices of PWLLE, and involving them as experts in the design, implementation and review of drug policy, treatment, and intervention programs, is essential to the process of de-stigmatizing substance use and promoting health, healing, and recovery of PWUS.
