Harm Reduction

Highlights

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• Harm reduction approaches help reduce certain health and safety issues associated with drug use.¹ As a model of substance use care distinct from treatment or recovery support,² harm reduction was created by and for people who use drugs³ to improve health and wellbeing, including during active drug use. Well-studied harm reduction strategies include syringe services and naloxone distribution programs.
• Decades of research have shown that some harm reduction strategies provide significant individual and public health benefits,^4,5,6 including preventing deaths from overdoses and preventing transmission of infectious diseases among people who use drugs and the larger community. Others reduce emergency department visits and costly healthcare services,^7,8 while in some cases offering people who use drugs opportunities to connect to substance use treatment^9,10 and other healthcare¹⁰ services in settings relatively free of stigma.
• NIDA supports research on how to best implement proven harm reduction strategies and to explore the effectiveness of new and emerging approaches, particularly in resource-challenged settings.