Harm Reduction Principles, Strategies and Benefits

With increasing overdose rates, a more lethal drug supply, and more prescription medications in many homes, it’s important to educate a wider audience about harm reduction and what it means: essentially, reducing the negative consequences of potentially risky behaviors. This workshop will present different definitions of harm reduction, highlight how we all practice harm reduction in our lives, and explain how harm reduction strategies are implemented in different settings, with a focus on rural communities. It will also address community concerns and hesitations about harm reduction, ways to reduce the harms of stigma surrounding drug use, and opportunities to build bridges between harm reduction and treatment for people with substance use disorders.