Don’t label heroin users as ‘junkies’ – Drug Commission
From BBC News
People should stop calling heroin users "junkies" or "addicts", an influential think tank on drugs has said.
The UK Drug Policy Commission said such names stigmatised users and made it more difficult to get off drugs.
Its report suggested that the policing of drugs on the streets and methadone programmes forcing users to go to chemists were "publicly humiliating".
Instead, the study said that British society needed to show more compassion towards drug users.
Authors of the six-month report said the terms "junkie" and "addict" were distrustful and judgmental and led to feelings of low self-worth among drug users.
They said these hostile attitudes only added to the stigma of drug addiction and made it harder for users to give up.
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