The power of people who use drugs as mass media influencers in changing public opinion during the global overdose epidemic

TL;DR

This paper explores how drug users in Canada are using media to change public opinion and reduce overdose deaths.

Contribution

It highlights the role of drug user advocacy groups in shifting public and political attitudes to combat the overdose crisis.

Findings

VANDU's advocacy is linked to reduced overdose deaths in British Columbia.

Media coverage of VANDU's work has grown significantly since 1997.

Five key themes emerged from the analysis: policy engagement, lobbying, advocacy, unsanctioned work, and demonstrations.

Abstract

Thousands of people have lost their lives due to overdose-related fatalities linked to the potent synthetic opioid epidemic, as mortalities increase annually. British Columbia (B.C.) Canada has been an exception, where the population not only has more liberal views on illegal drugs, but overdose death numbers have reduced for the first time in recent months. The reduction of overdose deaths in BC and liberal views have taken place in conjunction with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users’ (VANDU) advocacy growth over the past two decades.

The Canadian Newsstream database, which contains news media coverage, was utilized to examine VANDU’s news coverage and impact in 2023. VANDU’s mass media impact is determined qualitatively. NVivo 14 facilitated coding 97 articles in 2023, out of 1,596 total news articles since 1997.

After analyzing 97 articles from 42 blogs, 33 newspapers, 21 wire feeds, and one other source, five themes were identified. These themes included (1) policy engagement, (2) Government lobbying, (3) Advocacy, (4) Unsanctioned work, and (5) Demonstration.

With the rise of pseudoscience and anti-harm reduction rhetoric across the globe, this research has shown that partnering and funding drug user advocacy groups is the most critical way to fight the overdose epidemic because the advocacy can change public opinion and therefore government policy that needlessly contributes to preventable deaths.

Figures