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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.

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health