In the long and struggling battle to combat the struggles and hardships that accompany the use of drugs, innovation has produced a progressive and effective strategy aimed at derailing the unhealthy life of addiction. With a spectrum of practical and realistically focused strategies (sterile syringes, medication for opioid dependence, overdose prevention), the reduction of negative consequences that come from abusive drug use can be achieved. Acting as a double-edged sword of sorts, harm reduction works for the bettering of society in effort to helping both individuals themselves and communities as a whole.
Based on a core set of values that puts individuals first, harm reduction is a set of practices that looks at and for the best in people in regards to health and human rights. In addition to the respect for drug users everywhere, this method’s attention is focused highly on the reality of the problem at hand: drug usage. Instead of rejecting the idea that drugs are be present anywhere, harm reduction embraces the reality and does something about it. It is through the principle of acceptance of reality that the foundations of harm reduction is built on.
Through harm reduction services and implementations , the possibility of positive change in someone’s life is maximized. Aimed at meeting the needs of actual people, a main goal of harm reduction service in removing stigmas and getting “drug-abusers” away from marginalization from society. Instead of defining them by just their actions, they look at them as people who have potential and room to grow.
The services that come from harm reduction fit a broad range of activities and interventions: outreach and peer education, opioid substitution therapies, wound care, overdose prevention activities (i.e Naloxone). One threat that drug-abusers face aside from the law is overdosing. Without a fully operating conscious to tell them when and how much is too much, medicines such as Naloxone can help prevent death. By utilizing this medicine, opioid drug overdoses can be safely and practically reduced by bringing back an overdose victim’s breathing.
One group that has been advocating for the promulgation of harm reduction measures in general is the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC). In relations with Georgia’s own community based overdose prevention project, the expansion of naloxone access to people is in the works to expand across Georgia. But as a result of current progress, the NCHRC and AHRC’s collaboration has contributed to 419 opioid overdose reverses and the distribution of over 1,000 kits to Georians.
So what is holding us back? Why isn’t harm reduction being implemented everywhere? As a practice that has been shown to help, this accepting practice serves as a practical way to a more healthier and realistic society.
