Harm reduction is the practice of making the risks we take as safe as possible. For example, we wear seat belts because we know that we could get into a car accident, but we still need to drive the car. We encourage people who are having sex to use protection. We want construction workers to wear hard hats and safety equipment. These are all examples of harm reduction - and it's been proven that a harm reduction approach works for people with substance use disorders, too. For us, harm reduction incorporates the following services and more:

✓ Compassionate, shame-free, and trauma-informed approaches to engage with participants
✓ Linkages to treatment and recovery services, and other ancillary supports such as housing, employment, and legal services
✓ Medication-assisted recovery (MAR)
✓ Education and information distribution
✓ Toiletries, clothing, food, and other basic needs
✓ Needle and syringe exchange/access
✓ Overdose reversal kits (naloxone/Narcan)
✓ Fentanyl test strips
✓ Peer outreach and support groups
✓ Drug policy reform
✓ Services provided include in-person or virtual training, door drops, mail-order, and mobile outreach

Harm reduction is a set of practices and programs that protect public health by reducing the negative health, social, and economic outcomes associated with substance use. Rather than condemning the individual or viewing drug use as a criminal issue worthy of punishment, harm reduction recognizes that there are many factors that contribute to substance use disorder, and it is a health condition - not a criminal condition. Harm reduction is so overwhelmingly effective that the World Health Organization, UN Joint Program on HIV/AIDS, and UN Office on Drugs and Crime have all endorsed harm reduction services and recommended that they be implemented internationally to help improve community health and save lives.