PAIN was founded by artist Nan Goldin in late 2017. Our group of artists, activists, and people living with addiction addresses the overdose crisis by targeting the pharmaceutical companies that have profited off the addictions and deaths of over half a million Americans. We are not anti-opioid—we are anti-Big Pharma.

Our initial 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 complicity accepted 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.

While we continue to target the Sacklers, PAIN’s scope has expanded to fight the stigma that surrounds drug use and advocate for models of treatment grounded in harm reduction. We continue to fight against Big Pharma and the War on Drugs while organizing to pass legislation that provides life-saving treatment for people who use drugs.

ACTION AT
THe MET

OUR DEMANDS

Accessible naloxone

Naloxone, the life-saving medication that reverses overdose, must be available at no-cost in every home, in every prison and carried by every first responder. Public dispensers of Naloxone must be installed on every corner in America.

overdose prevention CENTERS

Overdose Prevention Centers, needle exchange, and drug checking services provide lifesaving medical resources and access to treatment for those who are ready. Two in New York City saved nearly 700 lives in a single year—we need them across the country!

MEDICATED ASSISTED TREATMENT

All barriers to prescribe MAT, like methadone and buprenorphine, must be removed. MAT must be made affordable to all people with Opioid Use Disorder in and out of prison.

Effective, Compassionate treatment

Evidence-based treatment is a vital step toward repairing harm. Government funding for the overdose crisis must no longer be diverted into law enforcement or used to fund abstinence-based treatment models.

We need your help with a donation today!

PAIN continues its work by advocating for harm reduction, drug decriminalization, and an end to the racist War on Drugs. Funds raised will support efforts to destigmatize drug use while highlighting compassionate, voluntary, evidence-based models
for drug policy, healthcare, and treatment.

Nan speaks at the Met following PAIN’s Guggenheim protest, 2019

Credit Arda Asena

Protest at Harvard Art Museums, 2018

Credit Emily Glick

Nan at V&A protest, London, 2019

Credit Antje Mangeant

Drug checking machine donated to North Carolina Survivor’s Union, 2020

Credit PAIN

Guggenheim prescription slips with Richard Sackler quote

Credit PAIN

Die-in at Harvard Art Museums, 2018

Credit Tamara Rodriguez Reichberg

The history of Pain confronting the sackler family

The Sackler family is an American family who founded and owned the pharmaceutical companies Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical drugs, including OxyContin.

January 2012
Co-founder Dan finishes the economics degree he promised his mum he’d complete, only to never use it and start his own clothing business (love you mum).
June 2016
Adam catches wind of Dan’s early success and slides into his DM offering help. Dan politely accepts.
August 2017
After collectively failing a number of business ventures, Dan and Adam finally have their first break. Together they build Lumio with a team of 7 other legends.

Lumio, previously called Foenix, was a social media analytics company that helped brands like Audi, David Jones and Red Balloon source legitimate influencers for social media campaigns.

“We were essentially the Instagram police and called out fake influencers left, right and centre. It was fun and all, but there is only so many bikini chicks you can look at on Instagram before you start losing your mind.”

Dan, Co-founder and CEO of Lumio

April 2018
Lumio gets acquired by German company, Influencer DB. Yeww! 🎉

“After this, we both took up golf on during the week and started eating fancy dinners at the local Country Club... Ha. This is not what happened at all. We suck at golf and love eating Guzman Y Gomez.”

Adam, Co-founder of Lumio

June 2018
Dan is shipped off to work with ze Germans as Head of Product at Influencer DB.

Adam decides to stay in Sydney and cut his teeth as a Product Designer with one of Sydney's leading design studios.

Whilst in Germany, Dan worked with with brands such as Daniel Wellington and BMW - Ja!

Adam worked with clients like Vodafone, TAFE NSW, Adobe and also won the 'Good Design Australia' award for his work on the Seatfrog website.

November 2019
After spending time apart, Dan and Adam begin to plan their next moves and rekindle their business partnership.

The name "Relume" is born.

relume

verb

[ri-loom]
To relight or rekindle (a light, flame, etc.)

January 2020
Dan moves back to Sydney to join a Global startup incubator called Antler. He convinces Adam to join him.
April 2020
🚀 relume launches
For various reasons, Dan and Adam decide to turn down a $100,000 investment from Antler and start their own business venture, without taking outside investment.

To do this they would have to build a company that would be profitable in its first year. Not the next Uber of *insert clever idea*.

June 2020
After building 11 websites on Webflow in under 6 weeks as a way to test a number of business ideas, Dan and Adam decide to stick to what they know best and launch Relume - a company that designs and builds beautiful Webflow websites.

“Relume was an opportunity for us to build a profitable business, not a startup that bleeds cash, whilst doing what we love to do. It also allows us to learn about all types of businesses and the problems they deal with. These are all opportunities that we could potentially solve for in the future. For now, our goal is simple, we want to build a kickass business which means we really want our customers and the Webflow community to succeed too.”

Dan, Co-founder of Relume

Today
Today Relume is a team run by two guys with the same mission in life - To wake up every day with a choice to do what we love to do, build meaningful relationships and do great work.

You've heard our story, it's now time for the world to hear yours.

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