Harm reduction is intended to prevent death, drug overdose, and substance abuse. But is harm reduction enabling drug use? Or does harm reduction truly save lives? Harm reduction has evolved in the last 40 years. New York City just opened the first government-sanctioned supervised injection sites in the country. Debate over the effectiveness of these harm reduction centers is controversial. Maia Szalavitz remembers the first time she was introduced to harm reduction; a friendly woman advised her to clean her needles with bleach during the HIV/AIDS crisis. Instead of facing judgment for her drug use, she was told that her life was worth living regardless. Whereas other people feel that harm reduction is supporting risky behavior and enabling drug use. Here on the podcast, we will take a deep look into the harm reduction debate and discuss whether it’s possible to accept somebody as they are without enabling their harmful behavior.

Podcast Guests:

Maia Szalavitz - author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction

Dr. Leslie Suen - board-certified internal medicine physician and addiction medicine specialist in San Francisco

Darwin Fisher - manager of North America’s first supervised injection site, Insite in Vancouver BC

Keith Humphreys - addiction researcher and professor, Stanford University School of Medicine; former Obama-era senior policy adviser, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONSCP)

David Murray - co-director for the Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research, Hudson Institute; former Bush- and Obama-era associate deputy director, ONSCP

Brendan Cox - retired Police Chief; Director of Policing Strategies, LEAD National Support Bureau