Our report, based on the findings of research conducted among the clients of closed needle and syringe programs in Budapest and Belgrade, sheds light on the dire consequences of declining support for harm reduction in Central Eastern Europe.
Harm Reduction
Harm reduction is a pragmatic and compassionate approach to people who use licit and illicit drugs. As a principle it is applied in several other areas of life, for example when you fasten your seat-belts in a car to reduce the risk of injuries. Policies and services based on harm reduction respect the dignity and freedom of human beings and help them to stay healthy and alive even if they choose to continue using drugs. A very obvious example is to distribute clean needles among people who use drugs to prevent hepatitis C and HIV infections. Harm reduction programs should be part of an integrated social and healthcare system. But harm reduction is much more than just a set of services - it is a movement for freedom and social justice applied in the field of drug policy. Drugreporter is a chronicle of this movement.
Some Drugs Are More Dangerous Than Others
I agree with Carl Hart (read here!) that people who use psychedelics should not look down on stimulant or opiate users. Using different drugs doesn’t make them better or more virtuous persons. But I disagree with claims that methamphetamine or heroin is no more dangerous than cannabis or LSD.
What Works on the Ground in Europe? – 4 Case Studies
In this report we present four best practices in the field of drug demand and harm reduction from three countries. With this report, we would like to promote the culture of evaluation both among civil society organisations and decision makers.
Nonexistent? We Exist!
NONEXISTENT? We Exist! A documentary on the inspiring efforts of communities working on the streets of Russia to try and halt the HIV epidemic. Watch the film! About the Film ‘Nonexistent? We Exist!’ is a documentary film about the communities of people living with HIV in Russia. It tells the story of how the members […]
YouTube Removed My Channel for Promoting Harm Reduction – An Interview with Damian Sobczyk
Damian Sobczyk is a Polish videoblogger and a drug user activist whose mission is to help young people to reduce the risks of drug use. His channel had 137,000 subscribers when YouTube decided to ban it without any concrete explanation. Read Drugreporter’s interview, conducted by Adam Stasiak!
Beyond the Medicalisation of Psychedelics – An Interview with Levente Móró
Levente Moro is a well-known member of the European psychedelic community. He earned his PhD in 2017 at the University of Turku, on the subject of hallucinatory altered states of consciousness. In 2012 he started PsyHelp, an organisation by partiers, for partiers, to make psytrance and Goa concerts and festivals safer. Read the interview made […]
Chemsex and the City
On the occasion of the Global Day of Action of the Suport. Don’t Punish campaign, during Pride month, Re Generation organised a screening of the film “Chem-Sex and the city” in Belgrade. The film was produced with the support of the Drugreporter Video Advocacy Network. Watch the video and read Irena Molnar’s report!
Looking Back and Moving Forward: My Journey with Drug Dependency
This movie follows Sithu Min Than, a young man from Kachin State in Myanmar, struggling to recover with the help of opiate substitution treatment.
OD Buster – Digitally Empowering the Response to Opioid Overdose
The Stop Overdose Now Foundation is developing a suite of mobile tools to digitally empower the response to the opioid overdose epidemic. It’s core application is OD Buster, a community based overdose response networking app.
Mudjilali Men’s Group – Australian Indigenous Peer Support for harm reduction
This movie, screened at the International Harm Reduction Film Festival in Porto, depicts how a peer support worker, Colin, works with Aboriginal men in a remote Australian location.
