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In this article the authors offer their perspective on the changes in the Dutch harm reduction field. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Netherlands emerged as a leader in harm reduction services, driven by gras...
Xylazine is an increasingly common adulterant in the North American unregulated drug supply that is associated with adverse health outcomes (e.g., skin infections, overdose). However, there are significant kno...
Despite the widespread use of the phrase “harm reduction” and the proliferation of programs based on its principles during the current opioid epidemic, what it means in practice is not universally agreed upon....
Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) as a curative treatment of hepatitis C have been available for several years and have replaced interferon-containing therapies. However, treatment rates of people who inject dru...
2-Benzylbenzimidazole ‘nitazene’ opioids pose a growing threat to public health. Nitazene analogues are increasingly found mixed with or (mis)sold as heroin and in falsified (non-)opioid medications, posing a ...
This commentary outlines the development of an Inclusion Collaborative in a large health district in Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The Collaborative grew out of ongoing efforts to reduce stigma associated...
Syringe services programs (SSPs) provide harm reduction supplies and services to people who use drugs and are often required by funders or partners to collect data from program participants. SSPs can use these...
Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues have disrupted the illicit drug supply through contamination of other substances (i.e., methamphetamine and cocaine) and replacement of heroin in illicit markets. Increasingly, ...
Overdose prevention sites (OPS) are a harm reduction strategy that offer people who use drugs a variety of resources including but not limited to sterile supplies, linkage to healthcare resources, and interven...
Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and its analogs are the primary drivers of opioid overdose deaths in the United States (U.S.). People who use drugs may be exposed to fentanyl or its analogs intentionally or un...
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 risk mitigation measures have expanded to include increased rules and surveillance in supportive housing. Yet, in the context of the dual public health em...
Fentanyl test strips (FTS) are lateral flow immunoassays that were originally designed and validated for detecting low concentrations of fentanyl in urine. Some FTS are now being marketed for the harm reductio...
The opioid epidemic has taken the lives of thousands of people across North America and Europe. Moreover, lack of housing, inflation, and a rapidly changing economy have affected millions of people, and many h...
Fueled by the prescription opioid overdose crisis and increased influx of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, fentanyl overdoses continue to be a public health crisis that has cost the US economy over $1 trillion...
Studies have shown that contamination of surfaces by illicit drugs frequently occurs in forensic laboratories when manipulating seized samples as well as in pharmacies and hospitals when preparing medicinal dr...
Xylazine is increasingly prevalent in the unregulated opioid supply in the United States. Exposure to this adulterant can lead to significant harm, including prolonged sedation and necrotic wounds. In the abse...
Prisons often serve as high-risk environments for drug use, and incarcerated people are at a high risk for substance use-related mental and physical harms. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of non-i...
The Correction to this article has been published in Harm Reduction Journal 2024 21:179
Illicit opioid overdose continues to rise in North America and is a leading cause of death. Mathematical modeling is a valuable tool to investigate the epidemiology of this public health issue, as it can chara...
Scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that inhaling the smoke from the combustion of cigarettes is responsible for most of the harm caused by smoking, and not the nicotine. However, a majority of U.S. adult...
The original article was published in Harm Reduction Journal 2024 21:133
Sublingual buprenorphine, approved for treatment of opioid use disorder since 2002, is most commonly available in co-formulation with naloxone. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist minimally absorbed when sublingu...
Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) offer a promising approach to tobacco harm reduction, but many people use both ENDS and combustible cigarettes (“dual use”), which undermines potential risk reductio...
Supervised consumption sites (SCS) and overdose prevention sites (OPS) have been implemented across Canada to mitigate harms associated with illicit substance use. Despite their successes, they still contend w...
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic and curable disease with a substantial burden of morbidity and mortality across the globe. In the United States (US) and other developed countries, incidence of HCV i...
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges to nations worldwide, affecting various sectors of society. Women’s HIV harm reduction centers, which provide critical services, have also been affected b...
Opioid-related overdose is the leading cause of death for people recently released from incarceration, however treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) during incarceration can reduce the mort...
In Pittsburgh, PA, legal changes in recent decades have set the stage for an expanded role for community pharmacists to provide harm reduction services, including distributing naloxone and non-prescription syr...
If US adults who smoke cigarettes are switching to e-cigarettes, the effect may be observable at the population level: smoking prevalence should decline as e-cigarette prevalence increases, especially in sub-p...
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a widely available cannabis product with many claims as to potential health benefits including alleviating symptoms related to opioid use disorder (OUD). However, little is known as to how...
Drug overdose is a leading cause of death and opioid-related deaths increased by more than 300% from 2010 to 2020 in New York State. Experts holding a range of senior leadership positions from across New York ...
The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for managers overseeing women's harm reduction centers. This study seeks to capture managers' perspectives on the service providing in women's harm reduction ...
The Correction to this article has been published in Harm Reduction Journal 2024 21:144
The matter of raising and educating deaf children has been caught up in percepts of development that are persistently inaccurate and at odds with scientific research. These percepts have negatively impacted th...
Harm reduction is a crucial approach in addressing the multifaceted challenges of injectable drug use. This paper presents an analysis and mapping of the existing literature on harm reduction research in the c...
New types of nicotine and tobacco products like electronic cigarettes (ECs), heated tobacco products or nicotine pouches have been discussed as less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes and other tox...
This multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of treatment non-adherence and its associated factors among methadone maintenance patients in Vietnam.
Deaths due to drug overdose are an international issue, causing an estimated 600,000 global deaths in 2019. Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, with those in the most deprived areas...
The Correction to this article has been published in Harm Reduction Journal 2024 21:188
Since late 2019, fortification of ‘regular’ cannabis plant material with synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) has become a notable phenomenon on the drug market. As many SCRAs pose a higher health r...
Needle and syringe programs (NSP) are effective harm-reduction strategies against HIV and hepatitis C. Although skin, soft tissue, and vascular infections (SSTVI) are the most common morbidities in people who ...
The Correction to this article has been published in Harm Reduction Journal 2024 21:164
Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) experience various forms of stigma at the individual, public, and structural levels that can affect how they access and engage with healthcare, particularly with medicat...
Good Samaritan Laws are a harm reduction policy intended to facilitate a reduction in fatal opioid overdoses by enabling bystanders, first responders, and health care providers to assist individuals experienci...
People who inject drugs (PWID) are at risk of HIV acquisition. The number of PWID in South African cities is increasing, and in spite of an advanced HIV prevention and treatment programme, there are PWID who e...
The present commentary highlights the pressing need for systematic research to assess the implementation and effectiveness of medications for opioid use disorder, used in conjunction with peer recovery support...
Retention in substance use treatment is essential to treatment success. While programmatic factors are known to influence retention, less is known about the role of involuntary discharges from drug or alcohol ...
During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a surprisingly low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 among People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) in Oslo, Norway, despite their heightened vulnerability regarding risk o...
The current fourth wave of the United States opioid overdose epidemic is characterized by the co-use of opioids and stimulants, including illicit opioids and methamphetamine. The co-use of these two drugs, kno...
Gambling and gambling-related harm attract significant researcher and policy attention. The liberalisation of gambling in most western countries is strongly associated with a marked rise in gambling activity a...
Policies to address substance use differ greatly between settings, where goals may range from zero-tolerance to harm reduction. Different approaches impact formats of care, policing, and even interpersonal int...
People who use drugs (PWUD) are at increased risk for HIV infection. HIV self-testing (HIVST) is a promising method for identifying new infections, but optimal distribution strategies remain understudied.
Fentanyl test strips (FTS) are lateral flow immunoassay strips designed for detection of ng/mL levels of fentanyl in urine. In 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health...
As the opioid public health crisis evolves to include fentanyl and other potent synthetic opioids, more patients are admitted to the hospital with serious complications of drug use and frequently require highe...
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