Harm reduction

Global State of Harm Reduction

2011-11-02T11:33:10+00:00

The Global State of Harm Reduction e-tool is an online resource containing up-to-date information on harm reduction policy and programming around the world. The web pages draw on the latest research ...

Heroin-assisted treatment in Switzerland

2017-01-11T16:25:27+00:00

A number of countries – including Switzerland, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada – prescribe heroin for use under medical supervision, as part of successful programmes to treat l ...

The harm reduction movement needs to rediscover its soul

2016-08-09T09:11:50+00:00

People who use drugs are being marginalized even within the world of harm reduction advocacy; they were rendered virtually invisible at the AIDS2016 conference in Durban. The true spirit of the origi ...

Junk policy

2015-07-02T12:49:03+00:00

A century ago, in 1914, the United States banned heroin and cocaine, and it then gradually used its diplomatic might to impose this ban across the world. Doctors tried to resist here in Britain and a ...

Drug users should be able to get heroin from the health system

2015-04-15T09:58:37+00:00

No fewer than six randomised controlled trials – in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Canada, and England – concluded that heroin assisted treatment is more effective than conventional tr ...

Global State of Harm Reduction 2014

2015-03-04T15:41:09+00:00

In 2008, Harm Reduction International released the Global State of Harm Reduction, a report that mapped responses to drug-related HIV and hepatitis C epidemics around the world for the first time.(1) ...

Cocaine: towards a self-regulation model

2014-03-07T16:38:17+00:00

By taking cues from users’ self-regulation strategies, it is possible to design innovative operational models for drug services as well as drug policies, strengthening Harm Reduction as an alternativ ...

Coffee Shops and Compromise

2013-10-03T13:34:06+00:00

Building on a long history and culture of tolerance, the Dutch responded to illicit drugs with decades of pragmatic measures free of judgment. A central element of modern Dutch drug policy was a cruc ...

Insite - Not Just Injecting, But Connecting

2013-01-18T14:41:54+00:00

Last year the HCLU’s video advocacy group travelled to Vancouver, to make a film about Insite, the only legally-operating injecting facility in North America. When we arrived at Hastings Street, in V ...

The War on Drugs and HIV/AIDS

2012-06-28T13:39:12+00:00

The global war on drugs is driving the HIV pandemic among people who use drugs and their sexual partners. Throughout the world, research has consistently shown that repressive drug law enforcement pr ...

Drug consumption rooms

2012-07-02T09:07:36+00:00

For the past 10 to 20 years, drug consumption rooms (DCRs) have become an integrated part of the drug treatment and harm reduction strategy in a variety of countries in Western Europe, North America ...

New heroin-assisted treatment

2012-09-19T07:28:04+00:00

The prescription of substitution drugs, such as methadone and buprenorphine, has become a mainstream, first-line treatment for opioid dependence, with around 700 000 of Europe’s 1.3 million problem o ...

Prescribing Cannabis for Harm Reduction

2012-01-05T17:45:46+00:00

Neuropathic pain affects between 5% and 10% of the US population and can be refractory to treatment. Opioids may be recommended as a second-line pharmacotherapy but have risks including overdose and ...

Amphetamine Type Stimulants and Harm Reduction

2011-11-04T14:12:41+00:00

Little is known about the methamphetamine market in the region, but there are strong indications that the situation is deteriorating with substances becoming stronger, methods of use more harmful and ...

Breaking the Silence

2011-10-28T12:45:53+00:00

This brief report outlines the links between cannabis prohibition in British Columbia (Canada) and the growth of organized crime and related violence in the province, and is the first report of a coa ...

Tackling Violence in Mexico

2011-09-12T17:52:34+00:00

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) translated the article La raíz de la violencia by Eduardo Guerrero Gutiérrez that was originally published in Spanish in the June 2011 edition of the Mex ...

Uptake, benefits of and barriers to safer crack use kit (SCUK) distribution programmes in Victoria, Canada

2012-09-18T13:54:43+00:00

Crack use is prevalent amongst street drug users in Canadian cities, and associated with severe drug use, health and social problems. Whilst few targeted interventions are available for crack use, th ...

Do crack smoking practices change with the introduction of safer crack kits?

2012-08-14T20:28:20+00:00

Crack smoking has increased in Vancouver despite the harms associated with its use. Many people who smoke crack share their equipment, thereby increasing their risk for infectious disease. This proje ...

On the Frontline of Northeast India

2011-11-07T15:16:59+00:00

Conflict and underdevelopment in the region have contributed to drug consumption and production, and are hampering access to treatment, care and support for drug users. Obstacles include curfews impo ...

The Dutch treatment and social support system for drug users

2011-02-02T12:10:40+00:00

This paper, written in collaboration with the Correlation Network, briefly describes the history and the basic elements of the Dutch drug dependence treatment policy, including recent trends in drug ...