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 ‘The area I’m from is very rough’: Drug users’ views on the role of social and economic factors in their experiences of drug-related harm, 

Shane O’Mahony (2023) 

Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, DOI: 10.1080/15332640.2023.2177919

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15332640.2023.2177919

"There's absolutely no downside to this, I mean, except community opposition:" A qualitative study of the acceptability of vending machines for harm reduction. 

Stewart RE, Cardamone NC, Loscalzo E, French R, Lovelace C, Mowenn WK, Tarhini A, Lalley-Chareczko L, Brady KA, Mandell DS. 

Harm Reduct J. 2023 Feb 28;20(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s12954-023-00747-4. PMID: 36855064; PMCID: PMC9971672.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9971672/

Safer Use (russisch)

DAH -Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe, Februar 2023

https://www.aidshilfe.de/safer-use-russisch

Europa. Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe - Monitoring Data Report 2022

Hersg.: Correlation, Niederlande, 23.02.2023)

https://www.correlation-net.org/monitoring-data-report-2022/

Support, don't punish: Drug decriminalization is harm reduction. 

Bratberg JP, Simmons A, Arya V, Bhatia A, Vakharia SP. 

J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2023 Jan-Feb;63(1):224-229. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.12.017. Epub 2022 Dec 20. PMID: 36682855.

https://idpc.net/publications/2023/2/support-don-t-punish-drug-decriminalization-is-harm-reduction

EHRA. Recommendations for setting up online harm reduction services

This document was developed by Lana Durjava for the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) as part of the project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”. It presents a brief guide with recommendations for harm reduction service managers on how to launch a new – or improve an existing –online harm reduction service aimed at people who use drugs (PWUD). The guide entails step-by-step practical tips regarding web outreach programme design, implementation, and evaluation. The purpose of this guide is to provide managers of harm reduction services, as well as representatives of other organisations working with key populations, with all the essential information needed to start an online outreach programme compiled in one place and presented in the form of concise, evidence-based, easily implementable recommendations. (Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), Litauen, 01.02.2023)

https://idpc.net/publications/2023/02/recommendations-for-setting-up-online-harm-reduction-services

Harm reduction services in the Netherlands - Recent developments and future challenges

Harm reduction (HR) has been a pillar of drug policy in the Netherlands for many decades. In fact, the Netherlands was a pioneer in the field of HR. Like many other Western countries, the Netherlands was hit by a wave of heroin use in the 1970s. The Dutch adopted HR programs early on at the height of their heroin crisis in the 1980s, and implemented the first needle and syringe exchange program worldwide. HR seeks to reduce the health and social harms of drug use to individuals and the wider community, without requiring people to stop using drugs (EMCDDA, 2010). It is a client-centered and low-threshold approach that allows users to engage with medical and social services in a non-judgmental way and provides opportunities for referral to further care. (Trimbos Instituut, Niederlande, 2022)

https://www.trimbos.nl/aanbod/webwinkel/af1973-harm-reduction-services-in-the-netherlands/

EMCDDA. Obdachlosigkeit und Drogen: gesundheitliche und soziale Maßnahmen

Dieser Leitfaden ist einer von mehreren Publikationen, die unter dem Titel Gesundheitliche und soziale Maßnahmen im Umgang mit Drogenproblemen: ein europäischer Leitfaden zusammengefasst sind. Er bietet einen Überblick über die wichtigsten Aspekte, die bei der Planung oder Durchführung gesundheitlicher und sozialer Maßnahmen für Drogen konsumierende Obdachlose zu berücksichtigen sind, und gibt einen Überblick über die verfügbaren Maßnahmen und ihre Wirksamkeit. Darüber hinaus werden die Auswirkungen auf Politik und Praxis beleuchtet. (EMCDDA, Lissabon, 22.12.2022)

https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/mini-guides/homelessness-and-drugs-health-and-social-responses_de

Kanada. Our Healthbox

A 'smart', interactive dispensing machine that provides low barrier access to self-testing kits for HIV and COVID-19, plus essential harm reduction and sexual health supplies. (ourhealthbox.ca, Kanada, Januar 2023)

https://www.ourhealthbox.ca/

Kanada. Project to Set Up 100 Harm Reduction “Vending Machines” Across Canada

Vending machines are increasingly being deployed to distribute harm reduction supplies in North America. As Filter has reported, they’re being used to dispense hydromorphone in a Canadian safe supply project, and naloxone and sterile syringes in New York City, among other examples. One of their notable benefits is the level of anonymity they provide.

Now, a larger-scale effort expects to set up around 100 such machines across Canada in the next three years. Despite their being known colloquially as “vending machines,” using them is free. They’ll offer critical equipment like HIV testing kits, condoms, naloxone and syringes, as well as information—via a large touch-screen face. (Filter, USA, 06.02.2023)

https://filtermag.org/harm-reduction-vending-machines/

Strategies to Reduce Harm: An Expert Panel Discussion on the Fentanyl Crisis. 

Leitz SJ, Bagley SM, Cook AJ, Jones C, Lawrence D, Pearce P. 

Perm J. 2023 Jan 24:1-13. doi: 10.7812/TPP/22.176. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36691739.

https://www.thepermanentejournal.org/doi/10.7812/TPP/22.176

USA. Impact of the California Harm Reduction Initiative

Barrot H. Lambdin, Alex H. Kral, Lynn Wenger, Sheila V. Patel, Jamie L. Humphrey, Shelley N. Facente, Hansel Tookes, Ricky Bluthenthal, Paul LaKosky, Stephanie Prohaska 

RTI International, 30.01.2023

RTI’s National Survey of Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) showed that California’s investment in harm reduction yielded high levels of life-saving interventions in its three years of existence.

https://www.rti.org/insights/impact-of-california-harm-reduction-initiative

Clarifying ‘safer supply’ to enrich policy discussions. 

Kilmer, B. and Pardo, B. (2023), 

Addiction. doi.org/10.1111/add.16124

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.16124

USA. Andrew Tatarsky and Maia Szalavitz: How 'Harm Reduction' Is Transforming Drug Policy

As the drug war retreats, individualist approaches to substance use and abuse will make us all better off. (Reason, USA, 11.01.2023)

https://reason.com/podcast/2023/01/11/andrew-tatarsky-and-maia-szalavitz-how-harm-reduction-is-transforming-drug-policy/

Prevalence and correlates of using opioids alone among individuals in a residential treatment program in Michigan: implications for overdose mortality prevention. 

Gicquelais RE, Genberg BL, Maksut JL, Bohnert ASB, Fernandez AC. 

Harm Reduct J. 2022 Dec 3;19(1):135. doi: 10.1186/s12954-022-00723-4. PMID: 36463189; PMCID: PMC9719663.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9719663/

Umgang mit Drogennotfällen

In diesem Jahr ist es in der Schweiz und in Deutschland, aber auch in anderen Ländern in Europa, zu verschiedenen Todesfällen an illegalen Partys gekommen. Sowohl in einem Fall in Köln Ende August als auch in einem Fall im Misox, Graubünden, wurde dabei der Notruf zu spät oder gar nicht alarmiert, da scheinbar unklar war, welche Konsequenzen ein Sanitätseinsatz für die Party und die Beteiligten haben könnte. Aus diesem Grund möchten wir hier einige Hinweise zum Umgang mit Drogennotfällen, und speziell zur Alarmierung der Sanität, geben. (saferparty.ch, News 08.12.2022)

https://www.saferparty.ch/blog/umgang-mit-drogennotfalle

Island. Iceland – the model for harm reduction?

Substance use among Icelandic teens was one of the highest in Europe 20 years ago. According to a survey conducted in 1992, nearly a quarter of Icelandic teens smoked every day, and over 40 percent of teens had been intoxicated in the past month. These issues can lead to many grave consequences for teens, such as dropout rates increasing, decline in mental health, and the increase in road accidents. Due to these adverse aftereffects, the Icelandic government increased their efforts to help teens avoid using harmful substances. (Volte Face, UK, 12.12.2022)

https://volteface.me/iceland-the-model-for-harm-reduction/

USA. Remarkable Photos Show What Harm Reduction Actually Looks Like - Don’t believe the conservative fear mongering.

Text by Taylor Sisk; Photography by Stacy Kranitz, Mother Jones, USA, November+December 2022 Issue

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/11/harm-reduction-opioid-overdose-naloxone-epidemic-biden/

Psychische und somatische Gesundheit von wohnungslosen Menschen - Evidenz aus dem National Survey on Psychiatric and Somatic Health of Homeless Individuals (NAPSHI-Studie)

The mental and physical health of the homeless - evidence from the National Survey on Psychiatric and Somatic Health of Homeless Individuals (the NAPSHI study)

Bertram, Franziska; Hajek, André; Dost, Katharina; Graf, Wiebke; Brennecke, Anna; Kowalski, Veronika; van Rüth, Victoria; König, Hans-Helmut; Wulff, Birgit; Ondruschka, Benjamin; Püschel, Klaus; Heinrich, Fabian

Dtsch Arztebl Int 2022; 119: 861-8; DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.m2022.0357

https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/228829

Kanada. Managed Alcohol Programs Offer Harm Reduction to Unhoused People

In Montreal and other Canadian cities, MAP participants are given the means to set their own drinking goals, plus housing or other supports. (Filter, USA, 06.12.2022)

https://filtermag.org/managed-alcohol-programs-unhoused

EMCDDA. Homelessness and drugs: health and social responses

Homelessness is considered to be an intense form of social exclusion. It negatively affects physical and mental health, quality of life and access to employment and other economic, social and health services. However, there are wide differences in defining what homelessness constitutes. This has caused a number of challenges, such as in assessing the prevalence of homelessness and comparing such assessments within and between countries. Broadly, homelessness encompasses individuals without stable, permanent and acceptable housing, or those lacking the prospect, means and ability of acquiring it. Under these conditions, people who use drugs face intersecting social, mental and physical health risks that significantly increase their morbidity and mortality. (EMCDDA, Lissabon, 08-12-2022)

https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/mini-guides/homelessness-and-drugs-health-and-social-responses_en

Technical Brief. Harm Reduction for People Who Use Drugs: Priorities for Investment and Increased Impact in HIV Programming

The Global Fund, Allocation Period 2023-2025, Date published: 17 November 2022

https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/1279/core_harmreduction_infonote_en.pdf

 

HCV microelimination in harm reduction centres has benefits beyond HCV cure but is hampered by high reinfection rates. 

Lens S, Miralpeix A, Gálvez M, Martró E, González N, Rodríguez-Tajes S, Mariño Z, Saludes V, Reyes-Urueña J, Majó X, Colom J, Forns X. 

JHEP Rep. 2022 Sep 13;4(12):100580. doi: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2022.100580. PMID: 36316992; PMCID: PMC9617206.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9617206/

USA. Harm-reduction efforts needed to curb overdose epidemic (AMA)

The U.S. drug-overdose epidemic continues to worsen as the number of deaths grew by nearly 15% in 2021—a grim total fueled by a 23% rise in the number of deaths linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl—highlighting a need to encourage harm-reduction measures, according to a resolution presented at the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting. (AMA – American Medical Association, USA, 15.11.2022)

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/overdose-epidemic/harm-reduction-efforts-needed-curb-overdose-epidemic

Forschungsbericht / Research Report. Kampagne zur Veränderung der Drogen-Applikationsform von intravenös zu inhalativ - Eine Mitarbeiter_innenbefragung in deutschen Suchthilfeeinrichtungen [Campaign to Change the Mode of Application of Drugs from Intravenous to Inhalative – A Survey of Staff Members of German Drug Services]

HEINO STÖVER (Prof. Dr.), DIRK SCHÄFFER (Referatsleiter DAH) & STEFAN FÖRSTER (Dipl. Soz.)

Akzeptanzorientierte Drogenarbeit/Acceptance-Oriented Drug Wor, ISSN 1861-0110 INDRO e.V., 2019

https://indro-online.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Stoever2019.pdf

The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2022: The Right Side of History

This Briefing Paper, drawn from The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2022: The Right Side of History, considers when, how and why the approach now known as tobacco harm reduction really began. When was it established that smoking-related diseases were not caused by nicotine, but by the thousands of chemicals released when tobacco burns? Who began looking for safer ways to use nicotine – and why were there so many false starts? How did nicotine consumers themselves influence the development both of safer products, and of tobacco harm reduction itself? What has been the response of public health and tobacco control organisations to these changes in nicotine use? (The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), 2022 (finanziert von Philipp Morris, Anm.)

https://gsthr.org/briefing-papers/the-global-state-of-tobacco-harm-reduction-2022-the-right-side-of-history/

Was Harm Reduction ist und warum wir mehr davon brauchen

Wortwörtlich übersetzt bedeutet harm reduction „Schadensreduzierung.“ Obwohl die Entwicklung erster harm reduction-Maßnahmen schon in den 1920er-Jahren begann, ist das Prinzip erst in den 1980er-Jahren bekannt geworden. In dieser Zeit wurden erstmals Spritzenprogramme als Antwort auf die HIV-Ausbreitung unter Menschen, die Drogen injizieren, eingesetzt. Das oberste Ziel von harm reduction ist es, mögliche Schäden von Drogengebrauch mit sogenannten safer use-Praktiken zu reduzieren oder zu verhindern. (Melissa Scharwey, Ana Liffey Drug Project, Irland, 2020)

https://mybrainmychoice.de/harm-reduction/

Kanada. Can drug users’ lives be saved by giving them uncontaminated heroin and cocaine?

A Vancouver “compassion club” is buying illicit drugs and testing for impurities before distributing them to users at risk of overdose. (The Hamilton Spectator, Kanada, 23.10.2022)

https://www.thespec.com/ts/politics/federal/2022/10/23/can-drug-users-lives-be-saved-by-giving-them-uncontaminated-heroin-and-cocaine.html

Harm Reduction International (2022) Global State of Harm Reduction 2022.

London: Harm Reduction International.

https://hri.global/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HRI_GSHR-2022_Full-Report_Final.pdf

The Global State of Harm Reduction 2022

The Global State of Harm Reduction is the only report that provides an independent analysis of harm reduction in the world. Now in its the eighth edition, the Global State of Harm Reduction 2022 is the most comprehensive global mapping of harm reduction responses to drug use, HIV and viral hepatitis. (HRI – Harm Reduction International, UK, November 2022)

https://hri.global/flagship-research/the-global-state-of-harm-reduction/the-global-state-of-harm-reduction-2022/

  1. Harm Reduction Services Are Slowly Spreading Around the World
  2. Moving towards a continuum of safer supply options for people who use drugs: A qualitative study exploring national perspectives on safer supply among professional stakeholders in Canada. 
  3. USA. The Vending Machine Saving Lives in Ohio
  4. Minimising the Harms from Methamphetamine. The Helen Clark Foundation and New Zealand Drug Foundation, Wellington.
  5. Kanada. British Columbia: Vancouver club will continue to distribute hard drugs in bid to save lives, despite Health Canada rejection