Selected members of the Drug Policy Alliance staff converged on New Orleans last week for the bi-annual conference of the Harm Reduction Coalition. The conference featured speakers -- including our Ethan Nadelmann, Maria Perez, Michael Blain, Marsha Rosenbaum and others -- on topics ranging from ibogaine to harm reduction in the state of California.

Harm reduction, one of the Alliance's main objectives, is the principle of reducing negative consequences for people who choose to use drugs. These negative consequences include an increased risk of HIV and hepatitis infection from sharing needles, arrest and imprisonment, and loss of access to student loans for those with drug convictions.

To counter these harms, the Alliance has worked in recent years to promote treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders; syringe access; and an end to the student loan provisions. The harm reduction conference was a chance to learn about what other organizations are doing, especially at the local level, to fill the gaps left open by government drug policy.

"Over the course of four days at the HRC Conference, I reconnected with why I do what I do," said Leah Rorvig, publications associate for the Alliance. "We're fighting for some of America's most stigmatized, most traumatized, and most marginalized individuals. The beauty of harm reduction, I was reminded by this conference, is that there are a limitless number of ways to make these highly marginalized individuals safer, and that these individuals, as members of our society, as our sisters, as our brothers, as our family, as fellow humans, always merit 100% of our respect."