The Harm Reduction Gap

ISBN-13: 9781032294742 / Twarda / 2024 / 200 str.

Sheila P. Vakharia

Opis

This long-awaited book teaches how harm reduction can be a safety net for people with substance use disorders that our current addiction treatment rejects, abandons, and leaves behind.

Recenzje

"Dr. Vakharia gives an easy-to-follow explanation of harm reduction and shows that we can do so much more to keep our communities safe and healthy. She defines the concepts, terms, and philosophy of harm reduction in a digestible way- a rare feat for such a complex topic. Weaving in her real-life experience as a product of DARE drug prevention, then a substance use treatment counselor, and, later, a harm reduction provider, the reader witnesses her transformation and is transformed too. Dr. Vakharia shows that there are multiple paths to helping our loved ones; we must be open to the possibilities."

Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, USA

"The best way to protect young people from getting into trouble with drugs, and to save lives and help communities that are already devastated by drugs, is to bridge the gap between ignorance and fear of drugs and their use spiraling out of control.  Dr. Sheila Vakharia brings together her own life as a youth in the era of DARE drug education scare tactics, her experience as a counselor in drug treatment, and her mastery of drug policy to clearly argue that harm reduction bridges that gap.  In this very readable and intelligent book, she lays out the ways that harm reduction can help individuals, families, and communities be knowledgeable and healthy in our relationship with intoxicating substances."

Jeannie Little, LCSW, Co-founder, Harm Reduction Therapy Center, USA

"A smart, compassionate and highly readable introduction to a better way of understanding and managing drugs and drug-related problems. Sheila Vakharia has written a one-of-a-kind book that meets the reader where they are and doesn't just leave them there. She brings them to harm reduction."

Maia Szalavitz, New York Times Contributing Opinion Writer and award-winning neuroscience journalist, USA

"From the origins of the term “heroin” to the ongoing commitment to prohibition, Sheila Vakharia provides an easy-to-read and accessible explanation about why the ongoing War on Drugs is failing and a description of the hope and effectiveness offered by harm reduction approaches to substance use in the US. At a time when more people are dying from substance use causes, Vakharia makes the case for harm reduction effectiveness, breadth of potential impact, and practicality.  Readers of Vakharia’s Harm Reduction Gap will come away with more knowledge, insight, and hope that there are available interventions and strategies that can address our most pressing substance use problems."

Ricky N. Bluthenthal, PhD, Professor, Department of Populations and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, USA and Founding Board Member of the National Harm Reduction Coalition

"The Harm Reduction Gap makes a compelling case on behalf of everyone whose needs are not met by directives to abstain from drug use. It analyzes the origins and evolution of the drug war, and our "two-tier system of 'criminals' and 'patients.'" It explains the failings and limitations of treatment models, with memorable examples from the author's personal experience. And it convincingly shows why harm reduction—as a set of strategies, a mindset and a movement—must lead the response to the overdose crisis and wider injustices. The book is highly approachable despite the complexity of its wide-ranging themes. Both newcomers and veterans of the field will find it invaluable."

Will Godfrey, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Filter

Spis treści

Introduction  1. "Just Say No" and The Harm Reduction Gap  2. How the War on Drugs Created the Harm Reduction Gap  3. What is Harm Reduction?  4. What are Harm Reduction Tenets and Beliefs?  5. Why Harm Reductionists Embrace the Drug, Set, and Setting Model  6. Treatment and The Harm Reduction Gap  7. What Harm Reduction is Not  8. Conclusion: Moving Beyond Drug (and Drug User) Exceptionalism

O autorze

Sheila P. Vakharia, PhD, MSW is a nationally recognized harm reduction expert with over 15 years of combined experience in addiction treatment, harm reduction, higher education, research, and drug policy reform. She currently works at the Drug Policy Alliance, a national advocacy organization fighting to end the war on drugs.