 In the latest episode of the Just Say No series, we explain why primitive drug policies don't work. Now we present you an alternative approach to drugs and people who use them based on the principles of harm reduction. Harm reduction is not only applicable to drugs, but to several other activities involving high risk. For example, it's also harm reduction when you drive a car and you fasten your seatbelt. Or when you ride a bicycle and you wear a helmet. Similarly, you can provide people who use drugs with sterile needles and syringes to prevent blood-borne infections such as hepatitis C or HIV. This is called needle exchange. Or you can prescribe opioid medications such as methadone or even diacetylmorphine, which is the medical form of heroin to heroin-dependent people to prevent them from buying dangerous drugs in the black market. This is called opiate substitution treatment and it is not only effective in improving the health and well-being of patients, but also in reducing crime. We can train people how to use naloxone, an antidote that can reverse the effects of heroin overdose to save lives. We can test illegal drugs for adulterants to prevent accidental poisoning. This is called drug-checking service. We can create hygienic and safer environments where people can use their own drugs with sterile equipment under medical supervision so we can prevent overdoses and infections. This is called drug-consumption rule. Harm reduction can not only reduce the negative consequences of drug use itself, but also the harms of repressive drug policies. It's also harm reduction when we mobilize the communities of vulnerable drug users and empower them to fight for their rights. Harm reduction is often contrasted with abstinence and recovery, but that's not true. They are not opposites. For some people abstinence might be the only right choice, but other people may not be ready or they don't want to quit drug use. Most people who use drugs are not dependent and dependence is often associated with childhood trauma, social marginalization and poverty. When you ask a person who lives on the street to quit drug use, it's like asking someone to go to the stone without an umbrella or remove his head in the desert. Harm reduction is also essential for long-time recovery. These programs reach out drug users on the street. They serve as the first step to other services, therefore they need to be part of an integrated drug treatment system. Harm reduction as a philosophy is based on compassionate pragmatism. This means that we would like to help people where they are at as fellow citizens in need of help, treating them with respect, without shaming or judging them. Countries that moved away from repressive drug policies and provide a wide access to harm reduction programs to drug users could significantly reduce deaths and suffering related to drugs. In the next episodes of Just Say No, we will provide you examples of how. Stay with us, follow us on the Drug Reporter website, on our Facebook and Twitter channels and support us so we can do videos like this one.