Gay men are more likely to have heard of ‘safer sex’ and ‘safer drug use’; ‘harm reduction’ is the term more often used in drug services and the harm reduction field. For most practical purposes here, the terms overlap.
Harm reduction is about practical measures and policies that reduce the harms linked to drug use. The term became more widely used in the 1980s, including in the UK, in response to HIV among people who injected drugs and the development of needle and syringe exchange schemes.
Primary prevention has a different aim: preventing people from using drugs in the first place, or helping them stop once they’ve started.
The focus of harm reduction is on ‘safer’ drug use rather than telling people to ‘just say no’. You may be old enough to remember Nancy Reagan, who said, now famously, in 1986: “And when it comes to drugs and alcohol just say No!” Joan Rivers had a sharper take: “Just say no… unless you can get a really good deal”, a satirical riff on the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.
Harm reduction has its share of supporters and critics. Critics argue that it promotes or condones drug use. Supporters argue that it is realistic, helps keep people who use drugs safer, and respects individual choices and freedoms. Harm reduction initiatives include needle and syringe exchange schemes, drug consumption rooms, drug checking at festivals and in clubs, and information on safer drug use.
What is harm reduction? | AIDS Action Europe Berlin | 22 Nov 2018 | 3m 34s
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The Guardian view on illegal drugs: the laws don’t work | 22 Feb 2021 Harm Reduction 101 | Drug Policy Alliance | 21 Aug 2017 | 2m 24
Why the war on drugs is a huge failure | Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell | 1 Mar 2016 | 6m 26s
