Stephen Murray, MPH, NRP

@stephen-murray.com

7763 Followers 4935 Following

Husband & dad / Director of SafeSpot Overdose Hotline/ Paramedic from This American Life Ep809 The Call / Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor Boston University School of Public Health / VIEWS MINE! http://stephen-murray.com

84° LFY.coml ACADIANANS LOCAL NEWS LEADER • lo buenol ANUA seno tenta conmigo cormigo uenta conmigo MÃS CHIHUAHUA más de lo bueno MAS CHIHUAHUA más de lo buenc cuenta conmi conmigo MAS lo bueno uenta conmig. enta MAS CHIHUAHUA más de lo bueno lo be LOCAL 2 state police officers overdose on fentanyl during drug seizure by: Julian Resendiz Posted : 5222, 202510163MM EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) - Two state police officers in Chihuahua, Mexico, are recovering in a hospital after becoming ill while conducting a drug seizure. The two unnamed officers entered a home late in Chihuahua City last week to arrest drug suspects
News article: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard News Fed up with drug users, street vigilantes are wielding Narcan like a weapon' Online commenters have called the alleged use of Narcan on unsuspecting victims a "new strategy for moving bums out of your way." Health experts say it could kill. By David Sjostedt Published Sep. 11, 2025 • 6:00am
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - A local woman said she narrowly escaped an attempted attack at a gas station after touching a door handle coated in what she believed was fentanyl, leading to her hospitalization for a suspected overdose from skin exposure. Jess Stonerock detailed the harrowing ordeal in a Facebook post Thursday, describing how she stopped at an Exxon station near the Chillicothe fairgrounds to use the restroom after picking up her sick child from a friend's house. "Once we got into Chillicothe I realized I had to use the restroom asap. So before turning on 207, I decided to just drive half a mile past to the Exxon station by the Chillicothe fairgrounds," Stonerock wrote. She noticed the station's lights were dimmed but assumed it was still open. After telling her son to lock the doors, she approached the building. "I tried to pull the door, no luck. But I felt 'dirt' on my hands after touching the handle, so I just brushed them off on my pants," she recounted. "My first thought was, 'maybe they have an outside restroom?'
Remember that when politicians come to your IOAD event that most of the drug policy approaches that have been done in the name of "ending" overdose have just made the problem worse. 1. Drug seizures - claimed to lower drug use, but we know the opposite is true. 2. Criminalization and incarceration - often framed as "saving people" by locking them up, but this only lowers tolerance and increases overdose risk at reentry. Add to that the barriers of a criminal record-family separation, housing, employment, healthcare-and you set people up for more chaotic use. 3. Coerced, forced, or involuntary treatment - for the same reasons. In the name of "saving people," we statistically increase their risk of overdose.
Article from CNN about drug seizure stating they got enough cocaine to fatally overdose the entire population of Florida
Drug checking sample: Laboratory Detected Substances Fentanyl (10) Xylazine (8) 4-ANPP (4) Lidocaine (4) BTMPS (Tinuvin 770) (3) 6-Monoacetylmorphine (3) Ethyl-4-ANPP (2) Bromazolam (2) Phenethyl-4-ANPP (trace) Papaverine (trace) Medetomidine (trace) Heroin (trace) Caffeine (trace) Cocaine (trace) Methamphetamine (trace) Acetaminophen (trace) Morphine (trace) Type Community Sample Date 05/2025 State / Group Massachusetts Location Lynn
SUFFIELD, Conn. (WFSB) - 5 staff members from the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield have been hospitalized after an inmate overdosed. At around 9:30 a.m., staff of the Walker building, which is a part of the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, responded to the cell of an inmate who was exhibiting signs of apparent overdose. The responding staff administered a dose of Narcan. The inmate was revived to the point he could be sent out in an ambulance to a local hospital for further treatment. A short time later, 5 staff members reported having symptoms of dizziness, tingling in the extremities, and feeling extremely hot. They were taken to the hospital for treatment. Connecticut state police were notified of the incident.
My daughter with my mug
Big crowd
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Until this country stops framing all drug use and all overdose as problems of “addiction” and “substance use disorders,” we’ll keep missing the mark on overdose prevention. Most people who use drugs don’t call it addiction. They don’t see themselves in the narratives pushed by society. It’s only when their use becomes chaotic — usually when someone else gets concerned and slaps a label on it — that those labels even enter the conversation. They’re not all suffering and waiting to be saved. It’s like we forget (or some of you without lived experience don’t know?) that drugs are pretty awesome. For many people, they stay awesome. For some, it becomes part of their maladaptive coping strategies and contributes to a chaotic life. I used for four years before anyone noticed. In that time, I got through most of college and won a seat on the village council. Most of my drug use was helpful and made me work harder and do better. Towards the end, I spun out and lost control and things got rough. The idea of treatment never crossed my mind — until someone else decided I might need it. Being an “addict” or “person in recovery” didn’t become my identity until it was forced on me by others. Next time you take a sip of wine or drink a beer, imagine we considered all alcohol consumption “alcohol use disorders” or “alcoholism” …. It’s the same thing
You’ve probably heard the phrase: “The opposite of addiction is connection.” It’s a catchy soundbite, but it simplifies a complex reality. It implies that people who use drugs are disconnected because of their drug use. That isolation is a consequence of addiction. But these aren’t mutually exclusive. At SafeSpot Overdose Hotline, we spend time with people who use drugs across the full spectrum of use—whether it’s experimental, social, functional, or chaotic. We don’t ask for abstinence in exchange for connection. We don’t put conditions on care. We show up because everyone deserves to feel valued, no matter what. That’s the heart of harm reduction. People who use drugs aren’t disconnected because of their drug use alone. They isolate because of stigma, because of fear of criminalization, because they might lose their jobs, housing, or even their kids. They isolate because society has pushed them away -- they isolate because of social disapproval. And that isolation is deadly. When people don’t feel safe in community, they’re forced to use alone. When they use alone, there’s no one there to push the plunger on the naloxone. No one there to save them. So instead of leaning on a trope that unintentionally reinforces the idea that drug use itself is the problem, let’s name the real issue: People who use drugs deserve safety, dignity, and connection—without conditions. At SafeSpot, we give that connection back. Not as a reward, but as a right. 📞📞 If you or someone you know needs support, SafeSpot is here. Call 1-800-972-0590 📞📞
Linked in post by Stephen Murray that reads: “Recovery isn't a moral upgrade. Being sober doesn't make you a better person, just like using drugs doesn't make you a worse one. But that's not how society sees it. This belief contagion is the basis of social disapproval. Looking back at my own experience - so much of what happened early on in my journey was meant to make me feel not only powerless but also that I had caused immense harm to everyone around me. This insidious belief stewed inside of me for years, made me hate myself and wrecked my self-confidence. It wasn't until l became a firefighter that I actually felt worthy of being part of society again and that had nothing to do with my recovery or sobriety. Sobriety is treated like a redemption arc-the thing that proves someone is now 'worthy' of care, respect, and a second chance. Meanwhile, people who continue using drugs are written off as lost causes, as if their lives only hold value if they commit to quitting. This thinking is everywhere. It's in the way we talk about drug use, how it is always equated with addiction, the way we design treatment programs, and the way we decide who gets help and who gets left behind. Harm reduction isn't about nudging people toward abstinence —it's about rejecting the idea that drug use makes someone disposable in the first place. If we really care about people who use drugs, then our support can't come with conditions cause it doesn't account for the spectrum of use. We create systems that are inaccessible and cruel and then blame drug users for not accessing them. We act like incarceration or involuntary treatment are the only options left. There's no accountability for what role the system and prohibition play in our evolving crises. It's all the fault of drug users. What an exhausting situation we created.”
LinkedIn post
Post that reads: PSA: not everyone who uses drugs or experiences an overdose has a substance use disorder. Not everyone is “struggling or suffering from addiction” and we don’t do harm reduction to keep people alive until they’re ready for recovery. We keep people alive cause people have value and they matter. These nuances in our language choices matter because they frame the overdose crisis incorrectly as an addiction crisis. It invalidates the mosaic of experiences of drug users. It reinforces prohibition narratives. It endangers all people because it confuses the public about who is at risk of dying from overdose. And it clouds our ability to think about actual solutions to reduce overdose deaths — like providing a safe and regulated supply as we do with all other substances.
Love isn't just about romance-it's about showing up, holding space, and reminding people they matter. At SafeSpot, we believe that everyone deserves care, safety, and connection-no exceptions. This Valentine's Day, remember: You are never alone. You are worthy of care. You deserve to be safe. If you or someone you love is at risk of overdose, call us at 800-972-0590. We're here to spot you. You do not have to use alone!
Bluesky post about RFK being a “former heroin addict”
Bluesky post about RFK referring to him as a former heroin addict
A picture of a bill submitted in Oklahoma legislature that reads HOUSE BILL 1343 By: Humphrey AS INTRODUCED An Act relating to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services: abolishing the Department of Mental Health and SubsLance Abuse Services; transferring all duties, powers, and responsibilities to the State Department of Corrections; transferring all real and personal property: providing for codification; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency. BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2-100 of Title 43A, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: A. The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is hereby abolished. B. All duties, powers, and responsibilities, including real and personal property, including books, records, and funds controlled by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services shall be transferred to the State Department of Corrections. SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2025.
Old Facebook memory from 2010 where my mom posted asking why we hadn’t talked and implied I must be studying. I replied yesterday telling her I was doing drugs and not studying.
Person in hazmat gear with a dead swan
Flyer with pic of me crossing my arms. Text says: YALE PROGRAM IN ADDICTION MEDICINE ADDICTION MEDICINE GRAND ROUNDS January 28th, 2025 |12-1pm EDT SafeSpot: Innovative Harm Reduction Interventions and Workforce Development Stephen Murray, MPH, NRP Hotline Director; Harm Reduction Program Manager SafeSpot
Image of me holding my Narcan license plate from the Boston globe with the headline reading “rmv allows Narcan on license plate”
You can narcan kit containing 2 doses