Harm reduction focuses on working with people without judgement and discrimination and aims to reduce the negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and drug laws. Harm reduction does not require people to stop using drugs in order to receive support. Harm Reduction International lays out the principles and goals of harm reduction:
Principles
- Respecting the rights of people who use drugs: Treating people who use drugs with compassion and dignity is integral to harm reduction. People who use drugs remain entered to their human rights: the right to life, the highest standard of health, social services, privacy, and freedom from degrading and cruel treatment.
- A commitment to evidence: Harm reduction policies and practices are informed by a strong body of evidence that shows interventions to be practical, feasible, effective, safe and cost-effective in diverse social, cultural and economic settings. Most harm reduction interventions are easy to implement and inexpensive, and all have a strong positive impact on individual and community health.
- A commitment to social justice and collaborating with networks of people who use drugs: People should be able to access harm reduction services without discrimination on any basis or having to overcome unnecessary barriers. Further, people who use drugs should be involved in the process of designing, implementing and evaluating harm reduction programs and policies.
- The avoidance of stigma: Harm reduction practitioners accept people who use drugs “where they are” in their lives without judgement. Stigmatizing terminology and language should always be avoided as it perpetuates harmful stereotypes, and creates barriers to health and social services.
Goals
- Keep people alive and encourage positive change in their lives: Above all, harm reduction prioritizes keeping people who use drugs alive and protecting their health to the highest standard. Harm reduction approaches aim to reinforce positive change in a person’s life, no matter how small or incremental that change may be.
- Reduce the harms of drug laws and policy: Harm reduction seeks to improve drug laws, policies and law enforcement practices, so that they are not detrimental to the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs and their communities.
- Offer alternatives to approaches that seek to prevent or end drug use: Entry into treatment programs for drug sue should always be on the terms of the individual.
Source: Harm Reduction International (2019). What is harm reduction? Retrieved from https://www.hri.global/what-is-harm-reduction