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Destigmatizing Drug Use Has Been a Profound Mistake

by The Atlantic, posted 12 12 2023

Blue America needs to send a stronger, more consistent message that hard drugs should be shunned.

By Keith Humphreys and Jonathan Caulkins

The image on the billboard that appeared in downtown San Francisco in early 2020 would have been familiar to anyone who’d ever seen a beer commercial: Attractive young people laughing and smiling as they shared a carefree high. But the intoxicant being celebrated was fentanyl, not beer. “Do it with friends,” the billboard advised, so as to reduce the risks of overdose.