When it comes to drug addiction, trying to help someone quit can feel like a lost cause. But there are still ways to keep people as healthy as possible. They’re just a little bit controversial. It’s a philosophy known as “harm reduction.”
And some of the work isn’t just controversial – it can be illegal in Tennessee. A few harm reductionists are willing to take legal risks because they see the work saving lives.
Today launches a week of This Is Nashville episodes about finding our way in the ongoing opioid crisis. And we start with the complicated tale of an underground harm reductionist and her work trying to overcome the stigma of drug use in an effort to keep people alive. She is committed to the idea that saving the lives of people in active drug addiction is more important than trying to get them to stop using. Through her story, we also learn that stigma can do as much damage as drug use itself.
Quick heads up: this story talks explicitly about hard drug use, addiction and their effects — and not always in an unfavorable way. Also, we’ve left the cursewords un-bleeped for the podcast audience.
Related:
• WPLN: A Betor Way, Memphis: Peers find a better way to save lives
• Bury This Heirloom, Ziona Riley
• This American Life: The Call (This Is Nashville’s managing editor, Tasha A.F. Lemley, says this is her favorite audio story about addiction, ever.)
• WPLN: Smoking-focused addiction help would save lives, but it’s not easy to access in Tennessee
• WPLN: To combat rising overdoses, a prevention specialist must first overcome the stigma of addiction
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