National Harm Reduction Coalition creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies. |
+ NHRC CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF HARM REDUCTION ADVOCACY AND IMPACT: This year, we are proud to commemorate NHRC's 30th anniversary, celebrating three decades of commitment to serving the harm reduction community. NHRC has been at the forefront of promoting health, dignity, and social justice for people who use drugs, and this milestone is an opportunity to honor our collective achievements and chart the path forward together.
We're thrilled to announce a year full of celebration activities, including regional convenings on both the East and West Coasts, educational programming on NHRC’s history and the harm reduction movement, community engagement events, digital content, and so much more! We invite you to partner with us to make this celebration truly memorable. Whether through sponsorship or contributing to our 30th anniversary campaign, your support will help us continue to make a lasting impact. Email NHRC’s Programs and Resources Manager, Mike Pomante, at [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities, and click here to donate.
Stay tuned throughout 2025 and 2026 for more details, including announcements, invitations, and ways you can participate in NHRC’s year-long birthday party. Together, let’s honor 30 years of progress and work toward an even brighter future for harm reduction! |
+ DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S TEACHINGS LIVE THROUGH US: Everyone deserves safe, affordable housing, health care, and their bodily autonomy to be respected. Right up until he was murdered, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke out about the interconnected injustices of racism, poverty, health disparities, and violence. Well beyond Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January, we must continue to dismantle systems of oppression and the culture that allows people to be seen as disposable, particularly Black, Indigenous/Native, Latine/x, and other People of Color who use drugs and those who are unhoused.
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+ NHRC AND RTI INTERNATIONAL PUBLISH REPORT ON SAFER SMOKING SUPPLIES AND NALOXONE DISTRIBUTION: NHRC’s Executive Director, Laura Guzman, collaborated with RTI International on a study focused on the National Survey of Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) in the U.S. led by Esther Chung in partnership with key harm reduction researchers. The report names how SSPs distributing safer smoking supplies have greater program participant engagement and increased naloxone distribution. The conclusion highlights that to maximize full individual and population-health benefits for people who use drugs, SSPs should be legally, financially, and technically supported to implement safer smoking supply distribution for program participants. Learn more about the findings in the report here.
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+ HONORING THE LIVES OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Our hearts break for the many people whose lives have been stolen from them while they experienced homelessness — either from violence, overdose, climate change impacts, hunger, or other conditions our culture of inequity and oppression allows. On Homeless Persons' Memorial Day held each December and always, NHRC affirms that everyone deserves a roof over their head and a safe place to lay down each night. No one is disposable. Stand up for your houseless neighbors and community members.
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+ SEX WORKERS DESERVE SAFETY AND SO MUCH MORE: Sex workers deserve to thrive, dream, build, find joy, rest, and so much more. This past International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and every day after that, we honored those whose lives were stolen from them. We named the toxic culture that allows sex workers to be marginalized and put in danger. We vowed to continue advocating with and for sex workers — including those who use drugs — to create a safer, healthier future. To learn more about sex worker resources and decriminalization, visit our resource page here.
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+ CONFERENCES AND EVENTS: -
The NIDA International Program is hosting the 2025 NIDA International Forum June 13 through 14, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The research symposium, poster session, and network-building activities will focus on the range and quality of drug use and addiction research globally. Learn more about the event here.
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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].
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+ NEWS: Incarcerated Firefighters Do Risky, Low-Pay Work — As wildfires in California continue, we're reminded of the many ways racism, climate change, and the so-called "War On Drugs" — aka a war on mainly Black, Indigenous/Native, Latine/x people — are interconnected. Incarcerated firefighters risk their lives while working to contain fires and can experience long-lasting impacts on their health from the danger in the field and lack of care when they return to prison. People who use drugs make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population. All this despite how people who use drugs deserve support, health care, and resources, not incarceration and exploitation.
"Every single firefighter that is out there right now, I'm sure they're proud to be there...But also every single one...has signed away their rights for any sort of compensation if they die on the fireground. They're putting themselves on the frontlines," this piece in The Marshall Project names.
+ NEWS: Lawmakers Omit Overdose Prevention Centers From MA Bill — Overdose prevention centers (OPCs), also known as supervised consumption sites, have been proven to save lives, improve public health, and support the empowerment and well-being of communities in the U.S. and abroad.
While recent legislation passed in Massachusetts supports saving lives and improving community health by moving further away from relying on carceral systems and allowing more health care access, plans to allow OPCs were dropped in the process. This news comes despite how in December 2023, Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said OPCs are, "lifelines, serving not only as places of intervention, but as places of empathy, understanding, and healing." We must implement evidence-based strategies and associated resources to save lives from overdose. Read more from Filter here.
+ NEWS: These people used Narcan to save lives. Here’s how they did it. — People who use drugs and other harm reductionists reverse the most overdoses, saving lives every day with the help of rescue breathing and naloxone. As this Washington Post story names via resources from NHRC and other community partners as well as folks' lived experiences, these approaches work — and the more people who have training and access to naloxone, the more lives can be saved.
+ NEWS: Syringe exchange fears hobble fight against West Virginia HIV outbreak — As has been noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NIDA, frontline harm reduction workers and people with lived experience, SSPs — also known as syringe exchange programs — save lives and prevent HIV from spreading.
This story, which focuses on West Virginia, details an HIV outbreak the CDC's HIV intervention chief called "the most concerning HIV outbreak in the United States" and the program restrictions that exacerbate these health issues. As reported by West Virginia Watch, "despite attention and resources directed toward the outbreak, researchers and health workers say HIV continues to spread. In large part, they say, the outbreak lingers because of restrictions state and local policymakers have placed on syringe exchange efforts. Research indicates that syringe service programs are associated with an estimated 50% reduction in HIV and hepatitis C, and the CDC issued recommendations to steer a response to the outbreak that emphasized the need for improved access to those services."
+ NEWS: Convictions of people caught by illegal Florida police drug sting to be vacated — The racist so-called "War On Drugs" — aka a war on people — has fueled overdose rates, exacerbated public health issues, and led dramatic spikes in incarceration rates. No one should be imprisoned for drug use, and people who use drugs deserve support, resources, and their right to bodily autonomy respected. We have a long way to go to right the wrongs of the so-called "War On Drugs" failures, and vacating drug convictions is a part of this process. Coverage by The Guardian here.
+ NEWS: Fentanyl Overdoses Remain High—Is Harm Reduction the Solution? — This Newsweek piece includes some hard truths, including how we approach overdose and associated public health harms issues based on the role racism plays. Black, Indigenous/Native, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals are criminalized for drug use at much higher rates than white people who use drugs, who are more likely to be met with compassion and evidence-based support.
"Overwhelmingly across these decades the US turns to non-punitive harm reduction approaches to address drug use when the public face of addiction is White. We swing to criminal-legal approaches when the face of addiction is not," the piece names.
+ NEWS: Study links historical redlining to delays in HIV treatment — Racism, oppressions surrounding people living with HIV, and the stigma people who use drugs face every day are deeply connected. People who use drugs and those with HIV know all too well how the resources and support a person has access to depend a great deal on where they live and how racism shows up in their life. As Medical Xpress — Medical and Health News outlines from a study by Tulane University, redlining continues to impact people in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sadly, we know this same injustice is felt across the U.S. in disproportionate ways. This story notes, "While the study only included New Orleans residents, the findings are significant for cities across the Deep South, where redlining was historically prevalent and where more than 50% of the new HIV cases are currently being reported."
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+ WOMEN WARRIORS’ CHILDREN LIVE ON IN SPIRIT, ADVOCACY: NHRC’s Executive Director, Laura Guzman, was invited to share a harm reduction presentation at the Warrior Women Annual Gathering in Solvang, California. The annual retreat, a unique healing and educational program led by Moms for All Paths to Recovery, gathers mothers who have lost their children to overdose, medical malpractice, and violence and those with children impacted by substance use. Moms redirect their grief by learning about harm reduction and advocating for evidence-based practices and access to services for those impacted by overdoses and drug use. The gathering included a moving ceremony honoring children who’ve passed away, equine therapy, a fashion show, and sharing best harm reduction practices and healing therapies while bearing witness to the individual and collective grief of mothers. NHRC is proud and grateful to have been part of this impactful, inspiring gathering of fierce women leaders.
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+ RESOURCES AND REPORTS:
HIV Justice Network has relaunched "The Global Database on HIV-specific Travel and Residence Restrictions" under a new name: "Positive Destinations." Check out the resource here.
Harm Reduction International (HRI) has updated its Viral Hepatitis Repository. See the latest here. -
The International Journal of Drug Policy published a research paper titled, "How do restrictions on opioid prescribing, harm reduction, and treatment coverage policies relate to opioid overdose deaths in the United States in 2013–2020? An application of a new state opioid policy scale."
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The National Immigration Law Center has updated its "Know Your Rights materials," which include information for folks impacted by policies and their loved ones as well as people working in the civil rights, health, and anti-poverty-focused fields. Materials can be found on the organization’s resource page.
The Penington Institute Initiative released its International Overdose Awareness Day Partners’ Report 2024, which names highlights from the most recent international campaign. See the report here. -
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!
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- 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.
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+ FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES: -
The Alyssa Rodriguez Center for Gender Justice created a microgrant program for survivors of gender-based violence who have been impacted by carceral systems who live in Florida, Georgia, New York, or Pennsylvania to support them with legal and educational needs.
The National Women’s Mental Health and Substance Use Technical Assistance Center (under SAMHSA) is providing a funding opportunity as part of a program to enhance the capacity of healthcare providers serving women across the nation in the core health specialties of mental health and substance use, obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN), pediatrics, emergency services, crisis services, and primary care to address the diverse needs of women with or at risk for mental and substance use disorders (SUD), including those who were greatly impacted by COVID-19.
Seneca County, New York has posted an RFP to address harm reduction, recovery, housing, treatment, priority populations, prevention, research, public awareness, and more related to opioid use in the community. The RFP aims to further the goals and objectives of opioid settlement funding. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has published a call for proposals to provide funding for a new cohort of community-led pilot studies to develop actionable evidence to support medical, social, and public health systems collaboratively address systemic racism.
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+ TRAININGS AND WEBINARS: -
NHRC's Lighthouse Learning Collective's series is back! The series features dynamic, thought-provoking sessions designed to inspire and equip attendees with actionable knowledge to deepen their engagement with harm reduction to better support queer and trans people who use drugs and engage in sex work. The monthly sessions held on Fridays start February 14 with "Care as Movement: Reimagining Organizing Through Harm Reduction & Collective Support." Check out this link for more details and to register. Planned sessions run from February to May, and select sessions may be recorded. Lighthouse will provide live ASL and Spanish interpretation for each session.
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NHRC is hosting a webinar series specifically designed for California SSPs. The series will cover a range of topics, including compassionate overdose response, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) billing, harm reduction foundations, and CDPH harm reduction supplies distribution. The remaining trainings, all held at 12 p.m. PT this year, are "Compassionate Overdose Response" on April 8, "Harm Reduction Supplies Distribution Overview" on July 8, and "Can I Bill for That?!" on October 14. For more information, email [email protected].
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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 tomorrow’s session, "Syringe Access 101," register here. To sign up for the February 28 session, "Dismantling Drug-Related Stigma," click here. Stay tuned for updates about our latest Foundational Fridays series! For more information, contact Jose Martinez at [email protected].
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National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), in partnership with the National Coalition to Liberate Methadone, hosted "Past, Present, and Possible Futures of the Methadone Treatment System: A Webinar Series," which included discussions about how and why the treatment system was created in the U.S., an overview of the service and policy landscape, factors stigma creates, and how current events including the COVID-19 pandemic has made impacts. To watch the webinar recordings, click here.
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Hiring? Send us a note about open positions in harm reduction to [email protected] to have a job post shared here.
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