The New York State Harm Reduction Association (NYSHRA) was formed out of an understanding that we are stronger together than we are alone. A collective of prominent organizations with natural synergies have come together to leverage our voices of advocacy, public policy, and clinical expertise in order to effect social change. We aim to achieve our mission through:
ADVOCACY
PUBLIC POLICY
CLINICAL EDUCATION
RESEARCH DISSEMINATION
Mission
The mission of the New York State Harm Reduction Association (NYSHRA) is to introduce and promote harm reduction in New York State as a…
Harm reduction will be established as the preeminent scientifically based treatment modality for substance use disorder and the appropriate response to…
Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm Reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.
Harm reduction incorporates a spectrum of strategies that includes safer use, managed use, abstinence, meeting people who use drugs “where they’re at,” and addressing conditions of use along with the use itself.
NO JUDGEMENT
Calls for the non-judgmental, non-coercive provision of services and resources to people who use drugs and the communities in which they live in order to assist them in reducing attendant harm
ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
Understands drug use as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses a continuum of behaviors from severe use to total abstinence, and acknowledges that some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others
SELF-EMPOWERMENT
Affirms people who use drugs (PWUD) themselves as the primary agents of reducing the harms of their drug use and seeks to empower PWUD to share information and support each other in strategies which meet their actual conditions of use
SELF-ADVOCACY
Ensures that people who use drugs and those with a history of drug use routinely have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Recognizes that the realities of poverty, class, racism, social isolation, past trauma, sex-based discrimination, and other social inequalities affect both people’s vulnerability to and capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm
REAL WORLD PERSPECTIVE
Accepts, for better or worse, that licit and illicit drug use is part of our world and chooses to work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn them