Mapping a moral panic: News media narratives and medical expertise in public debates on safer supply, diversion, and youth drug use in Canada.

Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 9014759 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-4758 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09553959 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Drug Policy Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 1998- : Amsterdam ; New York : Elsevier
Original Publication: Liverpool, England : International Journal on Drug Policy,

Mass Media* ; Morals*; Humans ; Canada ; Opioid-Related Disorders ; Harm Reduction ; Opioid Epidemic ; Drug Overdose/prevention & control ; Prescription Drug Diversion/prevention & control ; Adolescent ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Narration

The ongoing overdose and drug toxicity crisis in North America has contributed momentum to the emergence of safer supply prescribing and programs in Canada as a means of providing an alternative to the highly volatile unregulated drug supply. The implementation and scale-up of safer supply have been met with a vocal reaction on the part of news media commentators, conservative politicians, recovery industry representatives, and some prominent addiction medicine physicians. This reaction has largely converged around several narratives, based on unsubstantiated claims and anecdotal evidence, alleging that safer supply programs are generating a "new opioid epidemic", reflecting an emerging alignment among key institutional and political actors. Employing situational analysis method, and drawing on the policy studies and social science scholarship on moral panics, this essay examines news media coverage from January to July 2023, bringing this into dialogue with other existing empirical sources on safer supply (e.g. Coroner's reports, program evaluations, debates among experts in medical journals). We employ eight previously established criteria delineating moral panics to critically appraise public dialogue regarding safer supply, diverted medication, and claims of increased youth initiation to drug use and youth overdose. In detailing the emergence of a moral panic regarding safer supply, we trace historic continuities with earlier drug scares in Canadian history mobilized as tools of racialized poverty governance, as well as previous backlashes towards healthcare interventions for people who use drugs (PWUD). The essay assesses the claims of moral entrepreneurs against the current landscape of opioid use, diversion, and overdose among youth, notes the key role played by medical expertise in this and previous moral panics, and identifies what the convergence of these narratives materialize for PWUD and healthcare access, as well as the broader policy responses such narratives activate.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors confirm that they have no conflicts of interest to report.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Keywords: Diversion; Drug use; Moral panic; Overdose; Safer supply; Youth

Date Created: 20240420 Date Completed: 20240524 Latest Revision: 20240524

20240525

10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104423

38642543