‘Addict’. ‘Junkie’ jargon. Who cares? Extreme social stigma holds back drug recovery

Posted on 24 August 2010

The extreme stigma attached to drug addiction represents a massive obstacle to rehabilitation and recovery.

The extreme stigma attached to drug addiction represents a massive obstacle to rehabilitation and recovery; hindering access to treatment, securing work and housing and rejoining society, and lasting for very long periods of time - a new evidence review published today by the UK Drug Policy Commission reveals.

‘Sinning & Sinned Against: The Stigmatisation of Problem Drug Users’ by Charlie Lloyd is the first instalment of a four part research study, supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation with additional funding from the Scottish Drug Recovery Consortium, and led by Professor Colin Blakemore (Professor of Neuroscience, Oxford University and UKDPC Commissioner), that asks why so much stigma is attached to drug addiction, how it may prevent social reintegration and whether society is ready for a shift towards a more compassionate approach, geared more towards care than punishment?

Find out more about this study.

Notes to editors:

Further details about Charlie Lloyd can be found on our website:https://hsciweb.york.ac.uk/research/public/Staff.aspx?ID=2712