Harm Minimisation
What is harm minimisation?
Harm Minimisation is an approach involving a range of policies and actions designed to limit the harms that result from drug use. It recognises that drugs can cause harm to individuals (injury, quality-of-life, health and employment, for example), the people close to them and the wider community (the burden on the health system, the cost of treatment and the cost of law enforcement and incarceration) and seeks to minimise these harms.
People continue to use legal and illicit drugs in unsafe ways. Therefore, focusing on pragmatic, humane and non-judgemental methods that are proven to work offers the best way to minimise the harm to individuals and society that results from drug use.
The safest drug use
The Drug Foundation believes that no drug use is the safest drug use, but there will always be occasions when legal and illicit drugs are used and harm may result because of this.
Abstinence from drugs is one of the goals of the harm minimisation approach, but it must also be recognised that drug use has existed in many forms for as long as humans have walked on earth. Harm minimisation is inclusive of many ways of dealing with drug issues with a clear focus on methods that are proven to be effective in reducing harm.
A comprehensive approach
Harm minimisation does not advocate for people to take drugs. Rather it is a comprehensive approach that deals with the harms related to drug use. Using just one approach, such as one that is purely abstinence-based, can obscure necessary information, ignore safe practices and fails to reflect the reality of society's long-held use of recreational substances.
Health, legal and financial harm
Harm minimisation recognises that the harms of drug use are not solely related to health risks. Financial, legal and employment harm also results. This can be the result of injury or disease, and also the legal and social implications of drug use.
Sometimes the effects on someone's career or travel prospects because of a conviction can outweigh the health-risks associated with that drug. Also, the attitude of the general public to the use of certain drugs can result in someone feeling isolated, more strongly identifying with anti-social groups.
Examples of harm minimisation approaches:
- substance education: knowing the effects of drugs, how they affect the body and mind and the potential health risks that may result
- safer use practices: when someone does choose to use drugs, they know safe limits and safe practices to not harm themselves or anyone else
- effective treatment: when people do develop problems with their drug use, they know where and how to get help
- substance replacement: substituting recreational drugs with other substances with less risk of overdose or addiction. Examples of this include using nicotine patches to break tobacco smoking habits or methadone as a substitute for heroin
- restrictions: applying restrictions, conditions of sale and age limits for substances can influence who takes them, and how much they take. For example, the drinking age (currently 18), requiring food to be available and restricting some advertising practices are important elements of our alcohol laws
- controlling supply: many drugs are illegal because they are simply too dangerous to use. Intercepting the importation or manufacture of these substances reduces the supply to the general public
- abstinence: no drug use is the safest drug use, sometimes it is better not to have tried some drugs at all, especially highly addictive or risky substances
- legal flexibility: when the effects of a conviction on someone's life are greater than the health risks, they can be ordered to undergo treatment or undertake community service instead of going through the court system, such as the police Diversion scheme.
There are many different approaches and policies that are designed specifically to reduce the harm of different substances. Please refer to our information on specific drugs to find out more.
The Needle Exchange programme, where injecting drug users can swap used and dirty injecting equipment for sterile, clean ones, is an example of harm minimisation in action.
It was recognised that injecting drug users would often share needles, leading to an increased risk of transmitting communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. By providing clean needles the risk of transmitting these diseases is significantly reduced, posing less risk of the wider community acquiring these diseases and a reducing the burden on the public health system.
A good example of the concept of harm minimisation when applied to other health risks is the Slip Slop Slap campaign for skin cancer. This recognises that people won't abstain from being outside and becoming at risk of getting burnt. Therefore people should be educated about the risks and the appropriate protection available for them in the form of sunscreen, shirts and hats.
