Community-Driven Harm Reduction Could Be Key to Tackling U.S. Overdose Deaths

Commonwealth Fund October 1, 2024
Arnav Shah, Celli Horstman

TOPLINES

Community-led harm reduction programs that emphasize safety over abstinence have emerged as a key strategy for reducing overdose deaths

In the U.S., legal, regulatory, and political barriers to harm reduction programs limit their use, despite their success in helping to lower death rates from drug overdoses

After many decades of largely abstinence-based efforts to curb substance use in the United States, harm reduction has become a central tenet of the nation’s strategy for reducing overdoses.

Harm-reduction programs focus on reducing the risk and stigma associated with drug use through prevention, treatment, recovery, and health promotion. They ensure people who use drugs have access to education and treatment that is not contingent on abstinence, which may be a goal of...

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