11.6 Harm Reduction Examples
VIDEO: The Harm Reduction Vending Machine
In the following video Brad Pommen, Founder and owner of Smart1 Technologies, discusses the invention of the harm reduction vending machine.
Examples of HR Efforts to Prevent Substance Use-Related Harms:
- Impaired driving prevention programs.
- Encouraging drinking water while consuming alcohol.
- Using the nicotine patch or vaping instead of smoking tobacco.
- Outreach and support programs.
- Providing information and resources on safer substance use practices (legal and illegal).
- Using substances in safe environments with trusted others.
- Needle/syringe supplying and recovery programs.
- Access to clean substance use equipment.
- Opioid substitution therapies such as methadone or Suboxone.
- Safe legal drug supply (e.g., opioids)/prescription maintenance programs.
- Available Naloxone kits to reverse opioid poisonings (overdoses).
- SCS/SIS and drug poisoning (overdose) prevention services.
- Drug checking services.
- Mental wellness and healing support programs and centres.
- Peer support programs run by and/or that involve PWLLE tied to substance use and SUDs.
- Good Samaritan laws (e.g., the 2017 The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act in Canada – See Chapter on Contemporary Canadian Drug Policies).
- Decriminalizing substances and substance use.
(CAMH, 2019; Canada, 2021a; Understanding Harm Reduction, 2020; Jesseman & Payer, 2018).
VIDEO: Vending Machine Dispenses Heroin Substitute for At-Risk Users
The following video explores “MySafe,” a vending machine that dispenses hydromorphone to patients whose biometrics have been programmed into the scanner, as part of a unique Vancouver-based program aimed at preventing drug poisonings (overdoses).
