Colorado’s Lift The Label campaign to remove stigmas preventing people with opioid addiction from seeking treatment recently launched. The Colorado Department of Human Services and Office of Behavioral Health created the campaign, which is funded through a grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Opioid addiction, or opioid use disorder, is a medical disorder that results from the recurrent use of opioids, which creates a reliance on the opioid that fuels the craving for people to continue using it, no matter the emotional, social and physical consequences it may have on one’s life according to the sheriff’s office.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office says the negative stigmas that surround opioid addiction and the medications used to assist in treating addiction often prevents people from seeking or receiving the help they need.

“Rather than criminalizing addiction, we need to acknowledge that addiction is a disease and utilize a multi-pronged approach,” Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons said. “While we continue to focus on the flow of illegal narcotics into our community, we also need to make available harm reduction measures by offering medication, counseling, narcotic test strips and naloxone to those that are afflicted. Having a range of options betters your chances of getting people the help they need.”

To learn more about treatment resources, watch and read stories of Coloradans, and learn how to support a loved one, visit LiftTheLabel.org.