November 27, 2024

National Harm Reduction Coalition creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies.

+ NHRC REMAINS COMMITTED TO ADVOCACY, POST-ELECTION AND ALWAYS: Today and every day, NHRC’s mission is to promote the health and dignity of individuals and communities affected by drug use. As a national advocacy and capacity building organization, we aim to shift power and resources to people most vulnerable to structural violence and racialized drug policies. NHRC creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies. As always, we will continue to advocate for the rights of people who use drugs and all people.

+ COMPASSION IN ACTION: Fight for dignity. Advocate for hope. Save lives with NHRC this GivingTuesday. Join us on this global day of giving on December 3, 2024, to fuel life-saving harm reduction services and bring hope, dignity, and support to those who need it most. Every donation helps us:

Equip Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) with resources to expand their impact
Train healthcare providers to deliver compassionate, stigma-free care
Advocate for harm reduction as a public health priority
Strengthen and expand overdose prevention programs to save lives

Let’s come together to make harm reduction accessible for all who need it. Don’t want to wait to make an impact? Donate early:

Support NHRC today

+ IN CASE YOU MISSED IT — LAS AMERICAS RECORDINGS UP NOW/EN CASO DE QUE TE LAS HAYAS PERDIDO — GRABACIONES DE LAS AMÉRICAS LISTAS YA: NHRC proudly hosted Las Americas, a month-long celebration we wrapped up in October that honored the long history, leadership, and resilience of Latinx/e and Caribeñe harm reductionists from the Global South and North. Over 200 attendees participated in this groundbreaking virtual event, which emphasized language justice by featuring panels in Spanish and English with simultaneous translation. Missed our sessions? Check out the recordings, available on our YouTube channel.

This event was made possible by the unwavering support of the California Health Care Foundation. Help us continue this vital work! Your gift to NHRC today will ensure our movement remains inclusive and accessible to all communities and cultures.

Donate today

La Coalición Nacional Reducción de Daños (NHRC) se enorgullece de haber organizado la serie educativa Las Américas, una celebración de un mes de duración que concluimos en octubre y que honró la larga historia, el liderazgo y la resiliencia de les reductores de daños latines y caribeñes del Sur y Norte global. Más de 200 asistentes participaron en este innovador evento virtual, que enfatizó la justicia lingüística al presentar paneles en español e inglés con traducción simultánea. ¿Te perdiste nuestras sesiones? Puedes ver las grabaciones ahora disponibles en nuestro canal de YouTube.

Este evento fue posible gracias al inquebrantable apoyo de la Fundación de Cuidado de la Salud de California. ¡Ayúdanos a continuar con este trabajo vital! Tu donación a NHRC hoy garantizará que nuestro movimiento siga siendo inclusivo y accesible para todas las comunidades y culturas.

Dona hoy

+ MEMORIALIZING TRANS LOVED ONES STOLEN BY ANTI-TRANS VIOLENCE: Our hearts were heavy as we grieved trans loved ones whose lives were stolen by anti-trans violence this past Trans Day of Remembrance. This violence is perpetuated by a culture that allows this abuse, harassment, and erasure to continue. Together, we must work in solidarity to ensure our love is louder than hate, our grief fuels our action, and we keep their memory alive.

Over black background, white copy @ top middle reads, ''Trans people deserve love, support, and freedom.'' Beneath this @ left in smaller font, copy reads, ''As we mourn and honor those who have had their lives stolen by anti-trans violence, we remember the light they brought – and continue to bring though they’re no longer with us – to our world. They should be here.'' The words, ''we remember the light they brought'' are teal, & the sentence, ''They should be here'' is in purple. @ right is white illustration of a lit candle. NHRC white & trans pride colors gradient @ bottom right corner.

+ DRUG USERS' RIGHTS ARE ETERNAL: Bodily autonomy and health care are human rights that must be respected. On International Drug Users' Day and every day, we're here to uplift the lives, health, expertise, and well-being of people who use drugs. We see you, we hear you, and we'll continue advocating with you.

+ CONFERENCES AND EVENTS:

Street Medicine Institute is hosting the 21st International Street Medicine Symposium September 9-12, 2025, in Hawai’i. Registration opens June 2025. Learn more about the conference and see future updates here.
International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) is hosting its 13th international conference October 14-17, 2025, in South Africa. Learn more here.
Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is hosting its international drug policy conference November 12-15, 2025, in Michigan. Follow the conference website for future updates and registration.
NHRC is hosting our monthly national Peer Gathering Cohort, PeerUp, after hearing the need for peers nationally to have a space to connect, talk, and network. The sessions — which take place the first Monday of each month — are open to peers with lived/living experience only at no cost, and folks from around the U.S. are welcome to join. Together, we'll work to build a support system through the states. Come as you are, this will be a non-judgmental space! To join, contact Capacity Building + Hepatitis C Coordinator, Jose Martinez, at [email protected].

Blue gradient fills background. Black-&-white maze-like pattern frames top of graphic. Bold, all caps text in black at top reads, ''DON'T MISS: PEER GATHERING COHORT'', w/ ''DON''T MISS'' highlighted in yellow. Black text filling rest of frame reads, ''Please note: These meetings are for peers only, come as yourself!'' & ''First Monday of each month, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET via Zoom''. Photo of man wearing hat & name tag fills frame @ bottom left, w/ his quote in black text @ right of photo, reading, ''A community without peer empowerment is a failed society.'' - Jose Martinez, National Harm Reduction Coalition.'' Yellow sun-like shape is also pictured, with bold, all caps black text reading, ''FREE''. White PEERUP and NHRC logos at bottom right.

+ NEWS: Overdose deaths are down nationally, but up in many Western states — The more we criminalize drugs, the more dangerous the drug supply will become. By treating people who use drugs with respect and care, we will save lives, improve public health, and strengthen communities. This piece in Stateline takes a look at how there is more to the story when it comes to overdose death rates and how punitive approaches to drug use backfire.

+ NEWS: Harm reduction should be integrated into universal health coverage plans: UN — Harm reduction is health care, and it should be free and accessible to all, everywhere. Incredible, life-saving organizations are already working to make this happen across the country, and we must support and expand these crucial programs.

As Tlaleng Mofokeng, the special rapporteur on the right to health with the United Nations notes in her report, "universal health coverage should make essential medicines accessible and affordable and should extend beyond health care programmes and services to encompass the social determinants of health. 'Crises are often used as a pretext to increase policing or criminalisation of already vulnerable or marginalised populations, often adding to, rather than mitigating, the harms of the crisis itself.'"

+ NEWS: Majority of Public Comments Support Descheduling or Legalizing Marijuana — Criminalizing drugs does nothing but make the supply more dangerous and land more people in jail for marijuana and/or other drug-related charges. As noted in this Reason Magazine coverage, an analysis from our friends at DPA showed that 70% of comments compiled in a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) public comment period "support descheduling, decriminalizing, or legalizing marijuana at the federal level." Read more in the coverage here.

+ NEWS: Overdose deaths are rising among Black and Indigenous Americans — The racist, so-called "War On Drugs" continues to disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities. While we advocate for the expansion of evidence-backed, life-saving harm reduction, we must collectively work to challenge structural racism that allows these overdose deaths to continue. Read more from Missouri Independent's coverage here.

+ NEWS: Pittsburgh harm reduction experts: Stronger overdose reversal drugs aren't better — High-dose naloxone — more than 4 milligrams — is unnecessary, and can cause excruciating pain from withdrawals for people who use drugs. Lower-dose naloxone has been the gold standard for reversing overdoses, along with rescue breathing. While it can be extremely scary to wait for a person to "come back" from an overdose after administering naloxone, it's imperative to wait 2-3 minutes before administering another dose if the person is still not breathing. This coverage in WVIA names how harm reductionists point out that "more" is not better. To learn more about how to respond to an overdose, see our video here.

+ NEWS: Safer Sex Work — Harm reduction, bodily autonomy, anti-violence, and workers' rights — including sex worker safety — are intertwined. As noted in this YES! Magazine piece, harm reduction's community-centered approach can be applied beyond drug use and reduce potential harm associated with sex work.

"In order to keep sex workers safe, we must re-learn and re-frame concepts of public safety and public health, uplift compassion, and consider new worlds. Embracing harm reduction can help get us there,” this piece notes.

+ RIGHTS, NOT RESCUE: We proudly supported our partners at DecrimNY as the organization held a press conference late October to stand in solidarity with sex workers, immigrants, trans people, and communities of color to demand access to economic justice and housing resources. Check out coverage from the press conference, which pushed back against the deployment of over 200 police officers in Queens as part of “Operation Restore Roosevelt,” here.

4 images in 2 rows. From top left, image 1: Group of about 15 people pictured, holding various signs. Signs in focus at front read, “Gov. Hochul Mayor Adams stop policing our neighborhoods”, “Eric Adams: Corruption and cops won’t fix our communities”, “No more police, more resources!” and “Sex workers and street vendors deserve RIGHTS NOT RAIDS”. Image 2: Person wearing dark jeans, black sneakers, black t-shirt, scarf, and glasses speaking into microphone and stands behind mic’ed up stand. Behind them is crowd of people, holding up various signs/posters. City building pictured in background. Image 3: Crow of journalists with microphones, recording devices, and cameras look on as a crowd of folks holding signs/posters gathers. Behind them are city buildings. Image 4: Group of roughly 45 people pose together for photo, smiling and holding up signs/posters. Several folks have a fist raised in the air.

+ RESOURCES AND REPORTS:

Harm Reduction International (HRI) published the recording from the webinar, “The Global State of Harm Reduction,” in which folks shared findings from a report analyzing harm reduction developments around the world.
NIDA (the National Institute on Drug Abuse) invites people with lived/living experience of substance use to join a new workgroup. The group's primary purpose is to make recommendations for ways to enhance and expand engagement with people with lived or living experience with drug use in NIDA-funded research. Applications are due January 10, 2025. Learn more here.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy is looking to compile recommendations for the development of the 2026-2030 National Strategic Plans for STIs, Viral Hepatitis, and Vaccines and the 2026-2030 National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Feedback can be shared online by December 6, 2024.
NHRC’s Online Learning Center includes on-demand courses, including Foundations of Harm Reduction, Overdose Prevention and Response, Engaging People Who Use Drugs, and more. NHRC also offers free modules for NYC residents, in English and now Spanish, which cover safer use, stimulants 101, and wound care. ¡Chequea los nuevos módulos en Español sobre Uso Seguro, Estimulantes 101, y Cuidado de Heridas!

NHRC requests organizations add or update their information on the Naloxone Finder map in an effort to ensure the resource is up-to-date. To add a new program, click here. To update existing program information on the map, please fill out this form. We appreciate your support in spreading the word about these life-saving materials.

+ TRAININGS AND WEBINARS:

NHRC joined AIDS United, Black Harm Reduction Network, DPA, Human Impact Partners (HIP), and NASTAD earlier this month for "White Faces, Black and Brown Lives: Understanding Racial and Ethnic Trends in the Fourth Wave of the Overdose Crisis," a webinar moderated by DPA Executive Director Kassandra Frederique. Check out the recording here.
HRI is hosting a webinar for the launch of its upcoming report, “A World of Harm: How U.S. taxpayers fund the global war on drugs over evidence-based health responses,” on December 4, 2024, at 10 a.m. ET. Register here.
NHRC is thrilled to continue offering monthly Foundational Fridays training sessions, which focus on building basic knowledge about various intersectional public health issues. The free sessions, running from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET the last Friday of each month, are for providers, peers, and anyone in the harm reduction community as well as anyone looking to learn more about the field. To sign up for the next session, "Sexual and Reproductive Health 101," happening December 20, click here . Stay tuned for updates about our latest Foundational Fridays series! For more information, contact Jose Martinez at [email protected].

If you support emergent and exciting work at National Harm Reduction Coalition, please join our community of monthly donors, the Harm Reduction Champions!

Become a Harm Reduction Champion Today!

+ NHRC is searching for a Director of Capacity Building and Community Mobilization (California) and a Wyoming Engagement and Logistics Consultant.

+ DPA is looking for a Director, Criminal Legal and Policing Reform.

+ GLIDE SF is hiring a Medication Assistant Treatment (MAT) Navigator.

+ OnPoint NYC is looking to fill multiple roles, including:

Hiring? Send us a note about open positions in harm reduction to [email protected] to have a job post shared here.

You're receiving this e-mail because you're a colleague providing services, research, advocacy, or other supports for people who use drugs.

National Harm Reduction Coalition
243 Fifth Avenue
Box 529
New York, NY 10016
United States

Changed your mind? unsubscribe