Study shows need to battle misinformation on drug use

Researchers from UNL and UNO say there's not only misinformation, but a general lack of information when it comes to opioid use.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Looking at the survey responses from around 1700 Nebraskans, researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska-Omaha say there are a lot of people who have ideas on substance abuse that aren’t quite accurate.

“25 percent of participants reported that they believe substance abuse disorder is a choice”, explains UNO Assistant Professor of Medical Anthropology Allison Schlosser. “This is something that is really deeply embedded in our culture.”

But simply being a common talking point doesn’t make something true, and extensive research suggests there’s a lot more to the issue than a choice.

“It’s really important for us to think about the ways in which this problem is far more complicated than making a simple choice to use a drug or not”, Schlosser says.

There are ways to help, though, like through the use of naloxone. There’s a lack of knowledge on that point as well, though, as a quarter of the survey respondents hadn’t heard of it. If it doesn’t sound familiar to you either, you may know it better by one of its brand names, Narcan.

“We have this incredible tool to prevent deaths from opioid-related overdose”, says Schlosser, “and we really need to provide people who need to have that information with it in order for them to be able to save lives.”

The researchers say a lot of the stigmas and resistance to using naloxone can be changed by sharing a little knowledge.

“We really need education on the experiences of people who use drugs from their perspectives, conveying some of the complex dynamics there that would lead someone to not be able to just stop and need a harm-reduction intervention like naloxone”, Schlosser urges.

It seems as though we may be at the beginning stages of those discussions. After all, there are several dozen pharmacies in Nebraska that are now offering naloxone at no cost. Four of them are in Lincoln. Even more pharmacies are on the way. There’s still a great deal of work to do to get the word out, but a great deal of change appears to be on the horizon.