Popular social media creator promotes carrying Narcan at festivals
The viral TikTok received a mostly positive reaction, while Reddit posts criticized workers distributing harm reduction tools in a Seattle homeless encampment.
The viral TikTok received a mostly positive reaction, while Reddit posts criticized workers distributing harm reduction tools in a Seattle homeless encampment.
This past week, social media posts about opioids reflected wildly varying attitudes toward harm reduction, with a TikTok video promoting Narcan garnering the most attention. A Reddit thread sparked debate about who should carry and administer Narcan, and an X post shared the false claim that harm reduction tools promote drug use.
Public health communicators can use these conversations to recirculate information about where people can access naloxone and how to use it and clarify the purpose of other harm reduction tools.
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What’s trending nationally in conversations about opioids
On August 1, a Chicago-based TikTok creator with approximately 412,300 followers posted a video explaining that “hot girls pick up Narcan before they go to a festival.” The creator shared where people can access Narcan for free and asked her followers to normalize harm reduction. The video gained more traction in the past week, receiving approximately 558,100 views, 45,300 likes, and 230 comments overall as of August 14. Comments on the video were overwhelmingly positive, with many TikTok users sharing that they also carry Narcan and promoting harm reduction resources like the National Harm Reduction Coalition and End Overdose. Some asked where they can access Narcan in their own cities, and others asked what Narcan is.
Similarly, a Reddit user recently shared a post in a Seattle subreddit explaining how they had used Narcan to revive a person who had overdosed and urging others to carry it. The post received mixed responses, with some comments agreeing with the author and several others falsely claiming it’s unsafe for bystanders to administer Narcan. One comment read, “I’ll let the pros handle it … I don’t have professional medical liability insurance coverage.” Others claimed that the lives of people who have overdosed are not worth saving. One comment read, “Sorry, it’s not a normal citizen’s responsibility to carry medication to save the life of another person who decides to do drugs.”
On August 8, an X post shared a video of a Seattle harm reduction worker asking a man to stop filming a homeless encampment where workers were distributing food, water, and harm reduction tools. The caption claimed, “A King County Public Health worker tried to block me from exposing their ‘harm reduction’ operation. They were giving away needles and fentanyl kits like candy. Not a single person was offered treatment.” That post received approximately 126,300 views, 2,100 likes, 870 reposts, and 180 comments as of August 14, and nearly all comments were critical of harm reduction. The Daily Mail also published a story about the video. Another post from the X user who filmed the video shared the full name and workplace of the harm reduction worker and encouraged people to write negative reviews about the worker’s care as a nurse practitioner. Several comments suggested that the worker is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and questioned the worker’s gender.
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Recommendations for public health professionals
Each week, the Infodemiology.com team will provide messaging recommendations in response to some of the trending narratives outlined above. These helpful tips can be used when creating content, updating web and FAQ pages, and developing strategy for messaging about mental health.
Trending conversations about Narcan provide an opportunity for public health communicators to recirculate information explaining what naloxone is, why people should carry naloxone, where to access it, and how to use it. Explaining that most states have Good Samaritan laws, which protect people who are overdosing and those assisting them from certain legal charges, is recommended.
The recent uptick in criticism of harm reduction allows communicators to explain that harm reduction is backed by decades of research and that harm reduction programs like syringe services programs (SSPs) do not increase drug use. Messaging may emphasize that harm reduction programs help the entire community by offering a wide range of tools that go beyond sterile syringes. Services include HIV and hepatitis C testing and early treatment, naloxone, drug test strips, and referrals to addiction treatment if and when someone is ready. Ensuring that all messaging avoids stigmatizing language when discussing people who use drugs is recommended.