How Harm Reduction Is Saving Lives

Research shows that harm reduction is minimizing risk and keeping people alive.

“This is about saving lives. We know people take drugs. We don’t have to condone it but nor should we judge people or bury our heads in the sand. It’s our job to do whatever we can to help people make informed choices about the risks they’re taking.”—Roz Gittins, Addaction’s Director of Pharmacy

Harm reduction is all about minimizing the harm, or impact addiction has on someone’s life, rather than punishing them or forcing them into a treatment that may or may not work.

Why is harm reduction important for recovery?

Apart from what I mentioned above, there are many roads that lead to addiction—Adverse Childhood Experiences, environmental factors, biology, etc.—and there are also many roads to recovery. No one arrives at addiction in the exact same way, which is why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work and why I advocate for more individualized paths to recovery. But what happens when society doesn’t support any path to recovery besides the Abstinence Only approach? 

Let’s look at the facts. Drug overdose death rates in the U.S. are 3.5 times higher on average when compared to 17 other Western countries. What does this tell us? People with drug addictions are dying, and you can’t help someone recover who’s dead. So we need to do more to help people access treatment and feel confident in how they are treated.

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Judiawoods
Born again Christian, Certified Peer Support Specialist, HRS, MARS. Advocates for our Unsheltered Friends, Victims/Survivors of Human Trafficking.
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2 responses to “How Harm Reduction Is Saving Lives”

  1. samanthabushika Avatar
    samanthabushika

    I can say that I work for an overdose prevention helpline called SafeSpot. People call us when their only option is to use alone. We get some basic info and find out what they are using and how. We tell them to do their stuff and we stay on the phone with them until they reach their safe window. Being 8 years into my own recovery from heroin and having lost everyone I love to overdose I wish there was something like this back then. Our issue now is getting out there. Its a tough populace that I am a part of which is why I created my blog. To prevent others from going through what Ive been through. Its so hard because possible affiliates stigmatize me and I am the only drug addiction recovery blog I can find. Alot of alcohol but no drug addiction. Ive been going for 18 months and I have taught myself every thing seo, keyword research, serps, conpetitor analysis, etc. This fight is real and necessary, but boy is it hard. Almost all my savings are gone and I refuse to quit as a single late-in-life mom its never easy, but I cant bring myself to give up this dream. I have to help people. Addiction is one of the hardest of lifes experiences so now I am trying to normalize sobriety because I cant help people if they dont know I exist. Not for the helpline and not for my blog. I wish more people would write about harm reduction because it truly is savings lives. I volunteered for the helpline for almost a year before we started getting paid. I believe. Thank you for this awesome post.

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  2. samanthabushika Avatar
    samanthabushika

    I can say that I work for an overdose prevention helpline called SafeSpot. (1-800-972-0590). People call us when their only option is to use drugs alone. We get some basic info and find out what they are using and how. We tell them to do their stuff and we stay on the phone with them until they reach their safe window. Being 8 years into my own recovery from heroin and having lost everyone I love to overdose I wish there was something like this back then. Our issue now is getting out there. Its a tough populace that I am a part of which is why I created my blog. To prevent others from going through what Ive been through. Its so hard because possible affiliates/associates stigmatize me and I am the only drug addiction recovery blog I can find though Im sure there is more. Alot of alcohol but not many for drug addiction recovery. Ive been going for 18 months and I have taught myself every thing: seo, keyword research, serps, competitor analysis, etc. This fight is real and necessary, but boy is it hard. Almost all my savings are gone and I refuse to quit as a single late-in-life mom its never easy, but I cant bring myself to give up this dream. I have to help people. Addiction is one of the hardest of lifes experiences so now I am trying to normalize sobriety because I cant help people if they dont know I exist and they dont feel comfortable enough to be a part of my supportive community. I wish more people would write about harm reduction because it truly is savings lives, like foreal. I volunteered for the helpline for almost a year before we started getting paid. I believe. Thank you for this awesome post. I wish I could see many many more. 💜💜💜

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