The opioid epidemic has a complex history shaped by medical overreach, shifting political priorities, and evolving public attitudes toward addiction and recovery. In this episode of In the Heart of Care, voices like Michelle Whitaker, Nurse Manager at SPOT, a drop-in center for people with substance use disorder at Boston Health Care for the Homeless, and Dr. Derrick Glymph, educator and Assistant Director of the DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program at Duke University, guide listeners through the quiet policy debates and cultural tensions that influenced how harm reduction and treatment were understood—and often resisted. This episode examines the deeper intersections of stigma, care, and power at the height of a national crisis.