We need to reach beyond the US’s restrictive, hard-to-access, unaffordable, one-size-fits-all drug treatment approach.
A sheriff's deputy speaks with students about the D.A.R.E program at Colina Middle School in Thousand Oaks, California, on September 19, 1996.A lifetime of work and personal experience in drug treatment has led Sheila Vakharia to become committed to harm reduction — a framework that offers skills and strategies to those engaging in high-risk activities, including but not limited to drug use, to keep them and their communities safe.
You have a professional background in social work, drug policy and harm reduction with 15 years of experience. What’s going on in the world currently that sparked you to write this book? I understood that if I wrote a book for this moment, people had to read it. I approached this project with the understanding that I needed regular everyday people — voters, community members, family members, neighbors, elected officials, journalists, students — from all walks of life to feel like my book was interesting, engaging, relevant and useful to their lives. I needed to put myself at the center of it because I wanted to show that not everyone’s born a harm reductionist.
To medicalize a drug is to categorize it as a substance for treating or managing certain symptoms. Because of those potentials in certain dosages under the directive of a medical professional, this use is sanctioned, legal, paid for and available to certain people without fear of arrest, incarceration or punishment.While medicalization is a great tool for allowing access to certain substances, unfortunately, it still excludes a lot of people.
What are some misconceptions people have about harm reduction and how are those misconceptions harmful?
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