PAIN was founded by artist Nan Goldin, together with a group of artists, activists, and people living with addiction in late 2017.

 

PAIN addresses the crisis of the ongoing Drug War by targeting the pharmaceutical companies that have profited off the addictions and deaths of half a million Americans. We are not anti-opioid—We are anti-Big Pharma.

 

Our first focus was on the toxic philanthropy of the billionaire Sackler family, who ignited the opioid overdose epidemic with their blockbuster drug, OxyContin. We’ve exposed the institutions that have been complicit by accepting their donations for years, and through direct action, we’ve successfully pushed many museums and universities to refuse Sackler funding and cut ties with the family. Most recently, along with other advocates, we formed the OxyJustice coalition to demand accountability for the Sacklers in bankruptcy court and followed them into Congress.

 

While we continue to target the Sacklers as they turbocharge their global marketing scheme, our group’s scope has expanded to fight the stigma that surrounds drug use and raise awareness of harm reduction models of treatment. We continue to research the causes and effects of the War on Drugs and plan for future actions to hold Big Pharma accountable and pressure our government to provide life-saving treatments for people who use drugs.