National Black Harm Reduction Network

We are proud to be a co-sponsor with the Drug Policy Alliance for today's event White Faces, Black and Brown Lives: Understanding Racial and Ethnic Trends in the Fourth Wave of the Overdose Crisis: https://lnkd.in/eyEGe3gb The similarities with the #HIV #epidemic of the early #nineties are so exhaustingly similar. "In the early days of the overdose crisis, bestselling books like Hillbilly Elegy and Dreamland offered explanations as to why rural white people in Appalachia and the heartland were dying at such high rates. The explanation? Big Pharma profiteering and poor social and economic conditions. Combined with the “deaths of despair” narrative promoted by prominent economists, many came to believe the crisis was only impacting white people due to uniquely challenging circumstances that did not affect other racial or ethnic groups in the same way. However, this was not the entire story. People of color — especially in the areas profiled in popular books and viral headlines — were suffering from similar, if not higher, overdose rates. Today, Native and Black have the highest overdose mortality rates in the United States. Understanding the nuances of these data is critical to crafting effective responses. On this panel, experts will share recent racial and ethnic trends in overdose mortality, including drug type, regional, age, and gender variations. In examining these trends, panelists will also explore the root causes of these disparities and offer racially- and culturally-specific solutions to curb the overdose crisis. This event will offer a counterstory to the racial impacts of the overdose crisis and show why an accurate understanding of race and overdose is crucial to save lives."

We support the the campaign, Start With Hope, which aims to deliver a message of hope to those living with substance use disorders (SUDs) as well as those at risk of developing a SUD, with a focus on supporting Black and Hispanic/Latinx populations, connecting them with harm reduction strategies and treatment resources to start their journeys to wellbeing health and recovery https://lnkd.in/g2ru3Zzi National Council for Mental Wellbeing Shatterproof Ad Council Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RecoveryStarts_