To coincide with the 18th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm, the latest issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy is dedicated to the conference theme – “Harm Reduction – Coming of Age”. As a special offer for IHRA supporters, this issue will be free to access until the 13 June 2007. The articles can be accessed at www.ijdp.org, and no user name or password is required.
The issue (volume 18, issue 2) aims to complement the IHRA conference by providing reviews and commentaries on the last 18 years of global harm reduction. There are reports by the Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN), the Central and Eastern Harm Reduction Network (CEEHRN), and the Latin American harm reduction network (RELARD) which review the implementation of harm reduction in these regions and the challenges that they have faced. There are also specific reports from South America, China and Malaysia, as well as commentaries from Pat O’Hare (the IHRA Honorary President) on harm reduction in the Mersey region of the UK – where the conferences began back in 1990.
In addition to these historical pieces, there are also reports on some of the issues which remain crucial to harm reduction – such as the coverage of interventions, and where the movement fits in terms of global tobacco use, the ethics debate, the prohibition debate, and drug user activism and involvement.
The issue opens with an editorial piece from Professor Gerry Stimson (IHRA Executive Director), which overviews the last two decades of “a local movement with global impact”. This article documents the development of harm reduction from its humble beginnings as a local initiative in Holland (where the first needle exchange was opened by drug users in 1984), ground-breaking work in Merseyside in the UK, and innovative projects in North America, Australia and elsewhere in Europe. From this point, the evidence-base and global acceptance and support for harm reduction has grown and grown (despite on-going opposition from certain governments and organisations). This approach is now explicitly approved by governments across the world (regardless of economic, religious or cultural differences) as well as major international bodies (such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization). The harm reduction approach, based on evidence, pragmatism and human rights, has grown beyond its initial roots as a HIV prevention tool, and can now be applied to tackle a range of harms for all psychoactive substances.
Throughout the history of harm reduction, the International Journal of Drug Policy (and its predecessor, the Mersey Drugs Journal) has continued to provide coverage of the latest research, debates and advances in this field. It is fitting, therefore, that this journal now looks back at what has been achieved – as well as looking forward to what challenges lie ahead.
The idea of the harm reduction movement “coming of age” was a major theme at the 18th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm in May. As Professor Stimson notes in his editorial, “The 18th conference provides an opportunity to reflect on harm reduction achievements, to examine problems and failures, and to look forward to the future of harm reduction”.
