Review: A Drug Reformer Makes the Case for Harm Reduction
Sheila Vakharia, who now works for the Drug Policy Alliance, began her career as a clinical social worker at a conventional addiction treatment center, where she soon became disenchanted. “Few of my clients attended treatment voluntarily, most did not think they had a drug problem, and most never completed the program,” she recalls in her new book The Harm Reduction Gap, “because they could not maintain abstinence and comply with our tight structure,” which included regular urine testing that she was required to supervise, much to her dismay.
Vakharia’s next job, at a program that provided sterile injection equipment to drug users, opened her eyes to a different approach. “Harm reduction” rejects a black-and-white choice between abstinence and addiction, recognizing that different patterns of drug use entail different levels and kinds of risk. It accepts that people will continue to use psychoactive substances, as humans always have, and strives to minimize the negative consequences. Crucially, it acknowledges that efforts to
Article from Reason.com
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