'Mere availability does not ensure that it is used'

A billboard advertising naloxone is seen in St. Paul, Minnesota.

There is still a 'stigma surrounding opioid overdose'

(Image credit: Michael Siluk / UCG / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

published 7 April 2025

'Naloxone education can save lives'

Suhanee Mitragotri and Scott Weiner at The Progressive

One of the "approaches to addressing" the opioid crisis is a "set of public health strategies known as harm reduction," say Suhanee Mitragotri and Scott Weiner. But there is a "stigma surrounding opioid overdose," and the "prevalence of this stigma among youth, especially, has contributed to an alarming rise in adolescent overdose deaths." This stigma "makes it challenging to initiate conversations about naloxone," so students must "feel empowered to get involved in advocacy efforts."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Amid "extreme polarization," it is "important to put morality at the heart of our role as citizens," say David French and Rory Stewart. Democracy "sounds like a kind of big, vague word, but underneath it are very, very precious ideas." The "idea of truth is central — absolutely central — to our ability to think." We must "find a way of living out" our moral values and "cannot simply retreat." We "can't allow the degradation and the coarsening of our democratic and moral life."

Republicans have "increasingly supported or platformed openly antisemitic personalities," says Dace Potas. The GOP "should learn from their Democratic colleagues about the headache that allowing a small number of antisemites to exist within your coalition can bring." Conservatives "must forcefully expunge antisemitism." Allowing it to fester will inevitably lead to the same issues the left allowed to grow in and infect their messaging." Antisemites have "found an audience among those already holding anti-Israel viewpoints."

It's "become fashionable for some Democrats to retroactively recognize that gender ideology is anathema to voters," says Caroline Downey. They have "still not meaningfully confronted the medical scandal of foisting invasive transition surgeries onto gender-confused children and the ethical scandal of transferring violent male felons into women's prisons." Some Democrats are "only now moderating on gender ideology because it's politically expedient," and they're "motivated by political urgency, not a moral commitment to truth."

Explore More

Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.