According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “harm reduction is a proactive and evidence-based approach to reduce the negative personal and public health impacts of behavior associated with alcohol and other substance use at both the individual and community levels.”[1]
In other words, harm reduction services are an approach to lower the negative effects of addiction on the individual and the community. While there has been some controversy surrounding harm reduction, these services are proven to effectively lower rates of overdose, drug-related criminal convictions, and blood-borne diseases like HIV or hepatitis.
The services provided by harm reduction organizations are based on creating positive changes within a community. While the United States has attempted to use legal consequences to prevent drug addiction, these services do so without passing judgment or attempting to coerce people to change.
Currently, America is experiencing a significant drug addiction crisis that has continued to increase over the years. With the COVID-19 pandemic and economic inflation, people in this country are suffering from higher levels of stress, poverty, and mental health issues. As a result, the rate of drug addiction and drug-related overdoses have increased.
The CDC predicted that 100,000 overdose deaths would occur from May 2020 to April 2021. This reflects a 29% increase when compared to the number of overdose deaths that occurred from May 2019 to April 2020.[2]
The prevalence of drug-related casualties in America calls for a new approach to preventing and treating drug addiction. Harm reduction services have proven to be the answer.
By offering individuals access to healthcare, social services, addiction treatment, and compassion that they would otherwise not have, harm reduction is working to improve outcomes for people suffering from substance use disorders.
Harm reduction is intended as the first step of a continuum of addiction recovery care. To explain, these services provide individuals suffering from addiction with the resources they need to obtain drug and alcohol treatment.
These services help people with substance abuse by:
To sum things up, harm reduction services help individuals who suffer from substance use disorders by helping them to reduce the negative health and social effects of drug or alcohol addiction. While some people believe that harm reduction encourages drug addiction, it actually prevents individuals from dying or spreading infectious diseases within a community.
Harm reduction organizations provide an array of services and resources to individuals suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. These services are provided to them to ensure that everyone has access to safety, mental health support, and medical care.
Some of these services include:
Harm reduction services are provided in community clinics, health departments, churches, food banks, homeless shelters, correctional institutions, and a variety of other settings.
The main goal of harm reduction is to prevent the negative consequences of substance use and improve health within a community. While traditional practices focused on reducing the presence of a drug in the community, harm reduction works to reduce the harm that those drugs cause.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) believes in the efficacy of harm reduction rather than the criminalization of substance use disorders. The UNODC states, “Harm reduction is often made an unnecessarily controversial issue as if there was a contradiction between prevention and treatment on one hand and reducing the adverse health and social consequences of drug use on the other. This is a false dichotomy. They are complementary.” [3]
The long-term goals of these services include:
Michael Herbert, The Recovery Guide, has more than 30 years of experience working closely with individuals and families dealing with addiction and recovery issues. He is a seasoned Coach and can help you and your family establish long-term goals and access the tools you need for continued abstinence and recovery for the entire family. Get in touch with Michael today at 561-221-7677 to schedule an appointment.
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