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More About AHRC
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Harm Reduction: An IntroductionHarm Reduction: A set of strategies that encourages substance users and service providers to reduce the harm done by licit and illicit drug use. In supporting substance users in gaining access to the tools to improve their health and lifestyles, we recognize their competence to protect and help themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.The theory of harm reduction emerges out of community based public health interventions that support substance users and their communities in reducing drug-related harm. It challenges the traditional social service provision and moral/criminal/disease models of drug use by focusing on maximizing individual and community health through participation and ownership rather than repression and incarceration. Harm reduction identifies the practices and beliefs which endanger individuals and communities, and works in a collaborative and non-judgmental manner. Practitioners of harm reduction distinguish themselves from other service providers by their willingness to engage with all people, regardless of personal values, and to face with them the harm done to and by them. Harm reduction locates drug use on a continuum of the use and abuse of legal, illegal and prescription drugs. Rather than perpetuating the "all or nothing" approach to drug use intervention, harm reduction accepts drug use as a fact of life and acknowledges its role as a mechanism for coping with the consequences of a variety of social problems. As is consistent with this philosophy, harm reduction does not remove a person's primary coping mechanisms until others are in place. It starts wherever a person is at, and then moves at the pace of the individual. Harm reduction recognizes harm to be multidimensional -- harm to the self, loved ones, and the community. In its work, harm reduction seeks to address both the range and the depth of harm through a combination of practical, direct services and longer-term humanitarian goals. Central to harm reduction philosophy of addressing of an individual's immediate needs, such as: sterile drug using equipment; safer sex tools; non-judgmental, accessible and culturally specific drug treatment; HIV pre and post test counseling; food and shelter, and traditional and alternative medical care and mental health treatment. Simultaneously, harm reduction supports individuals in being competent and responsible in their entire lives, including but not limited to their drug using and sexual behavior. In order to achieve these goals, harm reduction supports non-punitive responses where mutual support and accountability exist between the individuals and the communities in which they live. While harm reduction emerged out of drug specific interventions, the
philosophy and strategies of harm reduction are applicable to a variety
of social welfare and public health issues, particularly those largely
affecting marginalized individuals and communities. Harm reduction is
expanding into many fields and issues, including safer sexual behavior,
violence, psychology, sociology, medicine, and education. |
Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc. | 472 Paines Avenue | NW Atlanta, Georgia 30318 |