So what’s all the fuss about harm reduction, and more importantly, what does it mean for society? In theory, harm reduction is a public health philosophy that seeks to lessen the harms caused by both drug abuse and drug policies. In practice, harm reduction means promoting and implementing pragmatic measures that help save the lives of people who use drugs and that reduce the pain of suffering people. Harm reduction is the Alliance’s guiding philosophy that yields drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.

Almost all of the Alliance’s campaigns and advocacy work are guided by harm reduction principles:

Cultivating a Safer Society
Our Safety First Project, based in California, brings a harm reduction approach to youth drug education. Every parent would prefer that their child abstain from drugs, but a fallback strategy is needed for those who just say yes or maybe. According to a recent government survey, 54% of high school seniors have experimented with an illegal drug. We created the Safety First Project to provide American parents with honest information about marijuana and other drugs as well as realistic options for dealing with drug use. This project promotes reality-based drug education models, based on comprehensive sex education models that help young people make safer choices. Arming young people with information on ways to best reduce harm to themselves is key to drug education that says, “First and foremost, be safe!”

Maintaining Human Dignity
Human dignity can be compromised when people suffering from painful and debilitating illnesses are denied access to the medication they need. For people who are suffering, harm reduction means making sure that people have access to whatever medication will best relieve their pain. Whether dealing with the growing prosecution of doctors for prescribing pain medication or the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, there are tens of thousands of people that are adversely impacted by our nation’s lack of empathetic pain management legislation. Fortunately, three quarters of Americans support access to medical marijuana and the improvement in quality of life it can provide for people who are suffering from cancer, AIDS, chronic pain, and a variety of other illnesses. Voters in 12 states have already demanded compassion for their loved ones in pain by successfully pushing for medical marijuana laws.

Rebuilding Societies
We believe the best way to reduce the harms caused by drug addiction is to send people to treatment, not to prison. Not only is treatment far less expensive than prison, it is also more effective both at reducing substance abuse levels and crime and at helping people get their lives together. Sixty-three percent of Americans agree that drug abuse is a problem to be addressed through counseling and treatment rather than the criminal justice system.  The Alliance supports bills like the one recently passed in Maryland, which give people convicted of drug offenses access to treatment services instead of trapping them in the revolving doors of the criminal justice system.

Putting Public Health First
Providing people with sterile syringes means putting public health first. Harm reduction methods like this one reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other blood-borne diseases. Researchers have consistently found that increasing access to sterile syringes through pharmacies and syringe exchange programs reduces the spread of life-threatening diseases among people who use injection drugs, their sexual partners and their children, without increasing drug use. Access to clean syringes can make the difference between staving off a growing public health crisis and enabling one.