Harm Reduction’s Road From Fringe to Federal Drug Policy

<p>More people died from drug overdoses during the first year of the pandemic — over 100,000 — than in any previous year. In response, the Biden administration is embracing a controversial strategy known as harm reduction, which seeks to keep drug users safe even as they continue using. We explore how harm reduction has become more mainstream and what kind of impact we can expect it to have on the overdose crisis.</p><br><p>Guests:</p><p><a href="https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/ricky-bluthenthal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ricky Bluthenthal, PhD</a>, Associate Dean for Social Justice; Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California</p><p><a href="https://healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu/people/keith_humphreys" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Keith Humphreys, PhD</a>, Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services, Stanford University</p><p><a href="https://www.rand.org/about/people/k/kilmer_beau.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Beau Kilmer, PhD</a>, Director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center</p><p><a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/kimberly_sue/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kimberly Sue, MD, PhD</a>, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine</p><p><a href="https://maiasz.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maia Szalavitz</a>, Journalist and Author, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Undoing-Drugs-Untold-Reduction-Addiction-ebook/dp/B08HLQW66F" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction</em></a></p><br><p>Read a full transcript and dig deeper into the issues explored in today's episode <a href="https://tradeoffs.org/2022/01/27/harm-reduction-drugs-substance-use/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">on our website</a>.</p><br><p>Support this type of journalism today by <a href="https://tradeoffs.org/donate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">making a donation</a>.</p><br><p><a href="https://open.ac