Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health
Population Health Research Brief Series
The Stories behind the Struggle: A Closer Look at First Experiences with Opioid Misuse
Khary K. Rigg, Shannon M. Monnat, Katherine McLean, Ashton Verdery, Glenn Sterner
May 2019
Opioid use disorders and overdoses from prescription opioids, heroin, and fentanyl have become a national public health crisis. Improving our knowledge about how people first come to misuse opioids can help to inform prevention and treatment interventions. This research brief dives into the stories behind opioid use initiation and provides intervention strategies.