Harm reduction refers to a range of services and policies that lessen the adverse consequences of drug use and protect public health. Unlike approaches that insist that people stop using drugs, harm reduction acknowledges that many people are not able or willing to abstain from illicit drug use, and that abstinence should not be a precondition for help.

What are some examples of harm reduction?

Needle and syringe programs help reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections by providing people who inject drugs with sterile injection equipment. Needle and syringe programs do not increase drug use, and act as a bridge to other services such as HIV testing and drug dependency treatment.

help reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections by providing people who inject drugs with sterile injection equipment. Needle and syringe programs do not increase drug use, and act as a bridge to other services such as HIV testing and drug dependency treatment. Methadone and buprenorphine are medicines that reduce the craving for heroin and other drugs, while helping improve the user’s stability, social function, and adherence to HIV medications and other treatment.

are medicines that reduce the craving for heroin and other drugs, while helping improve the user’s stability, social function, and adherence to HIV medications and other treatment. Peer support and community mobilization empower current and former drug users to play a role in the design of and advocacy for harm reduction programs, increasing the effectiveness of those programs.

empower current and former drug users to play a role in the design of and advocacy for harm reduction programs, increasing the effectiveness of those programs. Rights protections and policy reform may be as critical to health as a clean needle or condom. Services such as legal aid increase drug users’ access to justice and decrease police harassment. Drug policy reform diminishes unnecessary incarceration, prevents rights abuses and reduces law enforcement interference with lifesaving services.

Doesn’t giving people clean needles “send the wrong message” and encourage drug use?

No. The latest research—including multiple studies funded by the U.S. government and by the World Health Organization—overwhelmingly shows that needle and syringe programs reduce HIV risk without increasing drug injection.