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Key points
- Language related to addiction seems to be ever-changing.
- Not everyone agrees with some changes.
- Parents, especially, seem to want a say "poisoned" when their child dies from fentanyl, specifically.
In a previous post, “The New Definition of Sober,” I noted that some of the terminology used to refer to people with alcohol or substance use disorder has changed. (The two phrases, “alcohol use disorder” and “substance use disorder” are examples of the changes.) The purpose of the new terms is to focus on the disease rather than on a label for a person—such as alcoholic or drug addict, which can be considered derogatory—and hopefully help to remove the stigma around addiction.
“Poisoned” Vs. “Overdosed”
Currently, some parents of individuals who have unknowingly taken fentanyl when they thought they were taking a different substance are asking for yet another word or phrase to be changed. As a March 11, 2024 New York Times article explains, these parents would like it to be said that their loved one “was poisoned,” rather than that they “overdosed.”
It would change the perception of what really happened in each case, the writer says. “…[O]verdose suggests that their loved ones were addicted and responsible for their own deaths, whereas “poisoning shows they were victims.” Or, as one parent says, “It [saying my child was poisoned] keeps the door open. But ‘overdose’ is a closed door.”
A Sample Case and a Helpful Non-Profit
In 2022, Ryan Bagwell, 19, from Texas, took what he thought was Percocet, a pain reliever that he had bought in Mexico from a friend. He died after taking it; it was not Percocet, it contained “lethal quantities of fentanyl.” When his mother saw the death certificate, it said that Ryan had died from a fentanyl overdose. Ryan’s mother would like the record to read that he had been poisoned, and she explains why in the New York Times article.
A non-profit group related to these parents, Texas Against Fentanyl, has succeeded in getting Texas Governor Abbott to support statewide awareness campaigns to educate the public about such fentanyl poisonings. This group and other family members in a similar situation as Ryan’s mother are making strides in having politicians and documents reflect the new terminology, and other states have taken up the cause with bills and resolutions.
Why This Language Is Important
One expert interviewed—Leo Beletsky, an expert on drug policy enforcement at Northeastern University School of Law—praised the suggested change. “Language is really important because it shapes policy and other responses,” he says. However, the article provides several views to consider and points out that addiction is complicated and nuanced. Perhaps addiction experts on this site will weigh in and explain further. For people like me, a journalist and sibling who watched and worried about someone with substance use disorder, the changing language is fascinating.
A Relevant Commercial
The poisoning of people who don’t know they’re taking fentanyl and die as a result is a whole new ballgame. If you watched the Super Bowl on TV in February, perhaps you saw the commercial that featured the New York parents whose daughter, a freshman home from college for Thanksgiving, went to a friend’s house. She took what she thought was Percocet, and the implication was that it was to “party” with friends. It was fentanyl, and as with Ryan Bagwell in Texas, it killed her.
The second photo in the internet article about the commercial identifies her as a “local overdose victim.” But if you click on the link in the paragraph beneath the photo, there’s a headline on another photo on that page with a different title: “Poison pill: How one pill lead [led] to a local teen’s death.”
The commercial uses both terms, “overdose” and “poisoned,” but perhaps the news about the suggested language change wasn’t as widespread when the commercial was written. We can’t know why the commercial used both. In any event, the group responsible for sponsoring the commercial—the New York State Office of Addiction Service—is to be commended for spreading awareness of this horrible drug that’s killing so many of our unsuspecting youth.
I noticed that this public service commercial now appears on my local TV station as well.
