Linea de Acceso para Servicos y Crisis, Gratuito y Disponible las 24 Horas del Dia (888) 868-1649. Para emergencias medicas, llame al 911.
Linea de Acceso para Servicos y Crisis, Gratuito y Disponible las 24 Horas del Dia (888) 868-1649. Para emergencias medicas, llame al 911.
The principle of recovery oriented care is to decrease the short and long term adverse consequences of substance abuse, even for those who continue to use drugs, and to make treatment as attractive and accessible as possible. Recovery oriented care does not demand more than an individual can realistically do at any given time. Realistic, incremental change, rather than radical immediate change, is the hallmark of harm reduction.
In the past, treatment providers have demanded that people be abstinent to enter treatment or obtain abstinence immediately thereafter. Even when this did happen, the same clients were immediately discharged from treatment if they relapsed. As a result, treatment for substance use disorders has been largely unsuccessful until recovery oriented care came along.
Now, if someone can’t stop using opioids or other drugs before they enter treatment, we bring them into treatment anyway and help them use less. Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a chronic, relapsing condition that requires flexibility and tolerance. The reduction of harm, not radical change, is what most clients prefer and need; and any movement towards that goal is treatment success.
Even though many of us employ harm reduction strategies in our everyday life (wearing a seat belt while in a car, using sunscreen, obeying the speed limit, wearing a helmet when on a bicycle) the thought of employing harm reduction strategies to people who use substances is still often seen as taboo. Erroneously people think it is enabling, an attempt to legalize substances, or even encourages use.
Harm reduction and abstinence are not opposed; they are not mutually exclusive. Most people who enter SUD treatment want to stop using addictive drugs, but are unable to do so immediately. Harm reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs. Harm reduction practices are focused on interventions that will reduce the economic, social and physical consequences of substance use and misuse for the individual and the community. These can include:
Fentanyl, an opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, is responsible for a growing number of overdose deaths each year. Typically manufactured as a white powder, it can be mixed into other drugs such as heroin and cocaine without the user knowing, but with extreme consequences. Fentanyl can cause an overdose at first use, and has changed the landscape of the opioid epidemic.
Fentanyl checking strips, originally designed for urine drug tests, are now being used off label to test for the presence or absence of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs in the illegal drug supply. Drug checking strips allow users to dissolve a small sample of a drug into water, insert a test strip, and look for an indicator line alerting the user to the presence of fentanyl. Fentanyl testing strips are inexpensive, easy to distribute (given adequate infrastructure) and can accurately read whether a substance contains fentanyl or not.
In 2017, the California Department of Public Health began paying for fentanyl checking strips that could be distributed to people who use drugs at syringe exchange programs.
A February 2018 John Hopkins University study showed that the testing strips could detect the presence of fentanyl nearly 100 percent of the time. The majority of participants in the study (70%) reported that knowing that their drugs contained fentanyl would lead them to modify their behavior. This could include not using the drugs, using them more slowly, or using with others who have naloxone. It could also include changing their purchasing behaviors.
Fentanyl test strips are available locally through Pacific Pride Foundation.
Organizations like DanceSafe have also brought drug checking services to music festivals and dance events, offer fentanyl test strips online, and provide detailed instructions for their use.
>Download detailed instructions on how to test drugs for fentanyl in English or in Spanish or view the quick reference guide below.
Pacific Pride Foundation offers harm reduction education and provides materials to help reduce the spread of blood-borne pathogens and to keep people experiencing drug dependence safely.
The National Harm Reduction Coalition is a nationwide advocate and ally for people who use drugs. Their website provide information on the principles of harm reduction and offers resources and online trainings at the national and local level regarding harm reduction strategies.
The California Chapter of the Harm Reduction Coalition, located in Oakland, provides harm reduction resources for people who use drugs in California.
The California Harm Reduction Initiative (CHRI), in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health and the Drug Policy Alliance was established by the California Budget Act of 2019, which included $15.2 million to strengthen substance use disorder response by supporting syringe services programs (SSPs). This program represents the single largest government investment in harm reduction in the history of California.
The Drug Policy Alliance is an advocacy organization focused on advancing policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies.
Learn more about key harm reduction issues
> A list of state and local organizations that are working for drug policy reform
Introducing Harm Reduction in Collegiate Recovery. Learn more in this news article about how student-led harm reduction is being practiced at UCSB.
The California MAT Expansion Project aims to increase access to MAT, reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid overdose deaths through prevention, treatment, and recovery activities.The project also includes media campaigns, engagement of opioid safety coalitions, naloxone distribution, drug take-back efforts, and supportive housing.
Distro “NEXT” is an online and mail-based harm reduction program that supports people who use drugs that do not have access to in-person syringe access services, harm reduction-based education, or drug user health support. NEXT uses technology and the internet to connect with individuals who are geographically isolated from services, or who cannot access them for any other reason.
To reduce the possible harms of opioids:
Do not mix prescription opioids with other drugs. Mixing prescription opioids with other depressants, such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, or street drugs can be dangerous and even fatal .
Using Methamphetamines with opioids or with fentanyl does not decrease the risk of overdose.
Carry naloxone. Get a kit and ask your friends and family to get trained in overdose response.