I fully support the principles and philosphy of the Harm Reduction approach .

This is both a philosophy and a pragmatic approach that

•Saves Lives

• Values Human Rights

• Takes a Non-Judgmental Approach

 
 
Pill Testing on site at festivals

Examples of Harm Reduction

  • Pill testing – informing people of potentially dangerous substances that they didn’t intend on taking

  • Needle & Syringe Programs – preventing blood-borne viruses like HIV and hepatitis C

  • Opioid Treatment Programs – supporting people who are dealing with drug dependency issues

  • Medically Supervised Injecting Centres – demonstrated to prevent overdoses, save lives and reduce public drug use.

Just say know

Definitions of Harm Reduction

Harm Reduction refers to policies, programmes and practices that aim to minimise negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and drug laws.

It encompasses a range of health and social services and practices that apply to illicit and licit drugs. These include drug consumption rooms, needle and syringe programmes, pill testing (also known as drug checking), overdose prevention and reversal, psychosocial support, and the provision of information on safer drug use. 

Approaches such as these are cost-effective, evidence-based and have a positive impact on individual, family and community health.

Nice people take drugs

Did you know?

In 2019 almost half of Australians aged 14 and over – more than ten million people – admitted to having used a drug illicitly in their lifetime

• 16.4% admitted to using an illicit drug in the last 12 months

• If we actually arrested everyone who admitted to using an illicit drug in the past 12 months, we would have to arrest over one million people

And this is before we talk about the use of legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco.

 

Harm Reduction Australia in conjunction with Pill Testing Australia is pleased to announce the first Australian online harm reduction education course.

Across four interactive and engaging modules the Harm Reduction e-course will provide you with key information, videos, and exercises, that will enlighten you about a movement towards a just and more effective drug policy world and away from the war on drugs.

The training includes a specific module on pill testing for all volunteers wishing to assist in Pill Testing Australia activities and all modules have a mix of text, links, videos, and other helpful information. The course is comprehensive and has many links to external media and resources.

This is a free course. You will need to log on to the open LMS and create an account in order to access the e-learning. This is a 6+ hours self-paced learning module.

https://cmhl.org.au/training/harm-reduction-australian-perspective