Light up the night : America's overdose crisis and the drug users fighting for survival

**A revelatory, moving narrative that offers a harrowing critique of the war on drugs from voices seldom heard in the conversation: drug users who are working on the front lines to reduce overdose deaths** Media coverage has established a clear narrative of the overdose crisis: In the 1990s, pharmaceutical corporations flooded America with powerful narcotics while lying about their risk; many patients developed addictions to prescription opioids; then, as access was restricted, waves of people turned to the streets and began using heroin and, later, the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl. But that's not the whole story. It fails to acknowledge how the war on drugs has exacerbated the crisis and leaves out one crucial voice: that of drug users themselves. Across the country, people who use drugs are organizing in response to a record number of overdose deaths. They are banding together to save lives and demanding equal rights. Set against the backdrop of the overdose crisis, __Light Up the Night__ provides an intimate look at how users navigate the policies that criminalize them. It chronicles a rising movement that's fighting to save lives, end stigma, and inspire commonsense policy reform. Told through embedded reporting focused on two activists, Jess Tilley in Massachusetts and Louise Vincent in North Carolina, this is the story of the courageous people stepping in where government has failed. They are standing on the front lines of an underground effort to help people with addictions use drugs safely, reduce harms, and live with dignity. A revelatory, moving narrative that offers a harrowing critique of the war on drugs from voices seldom heard in the conversation: drug users who are working on the front lines to reduce overdose deaths When the news began to break (and break) about the impending opioid epidemic, the story was reliably about despair, addiction, and death. As the story developed to include the criminal actions of Big Pharma, and the heartbreak of relatives who had lost loved ones to overdoses, it continued to leave out one vital perspective: that of the drug users fighting to live--and to help others live as well. Across the country, drug users are organizing themselves in response to the growing number of overdose deaths and demanding that addicts be given the same rights as other citizens. Set against the backdrop of the overdose crisis Light Up the Night provides an up-close look at how drug users navigate policies that criminalize them through the ongoing failed war on drugs. It chronicles a growing social change movement led by drug user activists whose goal is to save lives, end stigma, and inspire common sense policy-making. Told from embedded reporting focused on two local activists, Jess Tilley in Massachusetts and Louise Vincent in North Carolina, this is the story of the courageous people stepping in where the government's public health policies have failed, standing on the front lines of the underground effort to help drug users use drugs safely, reduce harms, and live with dignity. In the 1990s, pharmaceutical corporations flooded America with powerful narcotics while lying about their risk. Many patients developed addictions to prescription opioids; then, as access was restricted, waves of people turned to the streets and began using heroin and, later, the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl. Lupick shows how this story fails to acknowledge how the war on drugs has exacerbated the crisis and leaves out one crucial voice: that of drug users themselves. He provides an intimate look at how users navigate the policies that criminalize them, and chronicles a rising movement that is fighting to save lives, end stigma, and inspire commonsense policy reform Prelude 1 Tough Love 2 Trauma Was My Gateway Drug 3 A Moment of Need 4 A Safe Space for People Who Use Drugs 5 The Wright Focus Group 6 A Drug-User Union of One 7 All Practice up to Now 8 A Period of Calm 9 The Urban Survivors Union 10 Strange Dope on the Street 11 Narco FeminismIn 12 Blow the System Up 13 Harm Reduction Works 14 Light Up the Night 15 Drug-Induced Homicide 16 Reframe the Blame 17 A Labor of Radical Love 18 Methadone in the Time of COVID 19 Creating Space Epilogue Afterword Acknowledgments Appendix: The Urban Survivors Union Do Not Prosecute Directive Notes