ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2025
"Either way, they will use. And so, probably, would you:" A critical discourse analysis of harm reduction portrayal in United States opinion news media.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundOpioid overdose deaths are declining in the United States for the first time in over five years. These reductions are partially attributed to increasing availability of harm reduction services, but services remain poorly implemented. The framing of issues in news media shapes public sentiment and uptake of services in policy and practice. The aims of this study were to: (1) content analyze United States opinion news media to describe overall attitudes towards and stigmatizing language about harm reduction; and (2) critically analyze discourses underlying articles with respect to stigma and harm reduction support.
methodsThirty-nine opinion articles across 17 United States newspapers on harm reduction published between May 2023 and April 2024 were included. Targeted analyzed content included attitudes toward harm reduction and stigmatizing language.
resultsMost articles had positive attitudes (32/39; 82.1 %), only 5/39 articles (12.8 %) were negative; two were balanced. Over half (22/39; 56.4 %) included stigmatizing language. Critical discourse analysis revealed pro-harm reduction articles were tied together by several threads: harm reduction strategies are evidence-based, do not increase crime, decrease stigma and systemic oppression, and policy change is needed to improve implementation. Among anti-harm reduction articles, discourses included: discriminatory stereotypes to portray opioid use and harm reduction depicted as enabling substance use, equating opioid use with crime, and dismissing systemic injustices influenced by punitive drug policy.
conclusionsContemporary United States opinion news media predominantly presents pro-harm reduction discourse, but often use stigmatizing language.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.