Stigma creates barriers across the continuum of care, from implementing evidence-based prevention programs, to individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) seeking treatment, to public support for harm reduction strategies, to employment, education, and housing opportunities for those in recovery. In Colorado, a statewide initiative called Lift the Label launched in May 2018 to respond to this stigma. 

The Lift The Label campaign is based on real stories of addiction and recovery in Colorado. The messaging behind these stories and other tools used by this campaign is to educate people that OUD is a brain disease and not a moral failing, promote the use of effective medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), educate the general public that OUD does not discriminate and can impact anyone, and promote that people with OUD do recover and become integral figures in their communities.

Some of the tools used by Lift the Label include:

• A flyer to educate people on overdose recognition and the use of naloxone
• The importance of first-person language when discussing opioid use disorder
• Using biographies of people with lived experience of opioid addiction that have used a wide range of recovery pathways
• An opioid memorial wall representing those who have died of overdoses
• Social media, digital videos, and other outreach material to increase awareness of OUD and share treatment options
• Recovery Cards Project - the option to send cards in the mail, free of charge, to recognize the resilience of Coloradans working towards or in recovery

More information can be found in an overview of the program here, the press release here, the video here, and the news article here.