Are we interested in interviews? Sure. But we have some things you should consider before reaching out.

We're a leaderless collective. We prefer to remain anonymous and decentralized. 

We're done with both sides-ism. Opioid overdose reversal medications are a crucial part of our response to the opioid overdose syndemic. If at the end of your article it reads as unclear that naloxone is essential, you fell into a both sides-ism trap.

They have saved countless lives. They could have saved more if the media avoided perpetuating misinformation (remember Narcan parties?). It's not all on the media, fault..they got that wrong info from someone...

We need to start talking to experts and stop taking politicians and law enforcement at their word on this stuff. Your piece should include impacted people/people who use drugs/harm reduction workers/experts through experience and experts through training. This will help you avoid spreading misinformation. 

True experts will help you avoid misinformation, but it is also hard for people to stay on top of all the bullshit that's out there. Pharma is doing a lot to seed misinformation, including partnering with law enforcement and non-profits that ostensibly help families facing addiction. It is a classic mix of authority highjacking and astroturfing.

Misinformation about overdose reversal medications include lies like:
> Naloxone isn't strong enough to reverse a fentanyl overdose (it is).
> Naloxone leads to more people using drugs (nope).
> Fentanyl is a new drug (nope) so it needs a new drug, nalmefene (also nope) to reverse it
> Stronger is better (nope. the correct dose is the dose that does the job with minimal side effects - use a scalpel not a sledgehammer, etc.)
> If I had X (new product) it would have prevented Y death (nope)

If you don't trust us, ask your interview subject for a citation.
They don't have one.
Ours are here.

It is a problem when outlets use brand name products instead of the generic when talking about harm reduction interventions. This is true across medicine, but especially true when the product has been price gourging for years. Consider too that there is little advertising bought by pharma, it is all given to them for free by the media and communities buying billboards to promote Narcan.

If you want to talk about the problems with some products (yay!), definitely name names, but when you're talking about distribution efforts in you community, those phrama companies don't need you doing press for them.

People know what naloxone is, and if they don't, it's because you keep calling it Narcan. The media was a large part of making Narcan into Kleenex. It has to stop.

There are other naloxone products, inclduing generics that are more cost effective and preferred by impacted people. Narcan (the brand name) has a long complicated history of putting profits first. More on that here in our wiki.

The text of the article must be released under a Creative Commons license and not be behind a paywall. If you can control it, don't serve ads with this story. We might make exceptions for publications that don't use CC.

Review reportingonaddiction.org for information on best practices when interveiwing people with lived experience (often trauma) and how to avoid stigma. 

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