Harm Reduction: Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors [Hardcover]

G. Alan Marlatt (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572303972 | ISBN-13: 978-1572303973 | Publication Date: October 8, 1998 | Edition: 1st

Harm reduction principles and strategies are designed to minimize the destructive consequences of illicit drug use and other behaviors that may pose serious health risks. Rather than insisting on abstinence as a prerequisite to continued treatment, proponents of the harm reduction approach aim to meet drug users "where they're at" with community-based services that empower diverse clients to set and meet their own treatment goals. The first major harm reduction text, this provocative and timely volume examines a wide range of current applications-from needle exchange and methadone maintenance programs, to alternative alcohol interventions and AIDS prevention campaigns. Insight is also offered into the often contentious philosophical and policy-related debates surrounding this growing movement.
This text will be of interest to frontline drug and alcohol treatment providers, AIDS educators, community health activists, students and professionals in public health, clinical and health psychology, psychiatry, primary care, counseling, and social work; readers interested in drug policy and the law.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is an extremely important and valuable work, for it firmly, but rather modestly, points the way to a needed paradigm shift in how we approach some of our greatest social ills particularly the AIDS epidemic and illicit drug use ... The real impact of this seminal volume is that it makes the case for harm reduction as a powerful model for both treatment and public-policy innovations ... A needed eye-opener for clinicians, patient advocates, and policy makers alike.' - Psychiatric Services

'Marlatt's book will provide food for thought and a variety of useful ideas for implementation of harm-reduction programs.' - Contemporary Psychology

From the Back Cover

Harm reduction approaches combine common sense, scientific evidence, public health precepts, and respect for human dignity. This is certainly the finest volume on harm reduction to date/m-/a skillfully edited and comprehensive introduction for readers seeking more effective, compassionate approaches to drug use and abuse (Ethan Nadelmann, JD, PhD, Director, The Lindesmith Center, New York).

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press; 1st edition (October 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572303972
• ISBN-13: 978-1572303973
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The manifesto of a new movement., October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Harm Reduction: Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors (Hardcover)

If you are looking for an alternative to rigid, one-dimensional, abstinence-only approaches to substance abuse or HIV prevention, this book is the place to start. According to the harm reduction philosophy, abstinence is one end of a continuum of human behavior, and is not something that can be attained overnight by those most in need of help. As a professional working in this field, I find the book to be a welcome and thought-provoking summary of the various principles of the harm reduction model, and the basis of a reworking of outdated programs based on "one slip and you're out." Plenty of research data is provided to replace ideology with reality. Everyone will not agree with everything in this book, but it is going to be a point of departure for some time to come.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, Very Important, February 12, 2008

By 

Mathew Wienbar "thefatmanwalksalone" (Jamestown, ND) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harm Reduction: Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors (Paperback)

Harm reduction philosophy seeks to reduce the harmful consequences resulting from drug use, which may or may not entail reducing usage of drugs. Harm reduction rejects the "disease model" of addiction, which says that addiction is a hereditary, progressive, degenerative, fatal disease. Instead, harm reduction says that substance use occurs on a continuum, ranging from being very problematic to non-problematic.

Because harm reduction promotes any treatment goal that reduces harm, rather than only abstinence, people who are unwilling or unable to stop using drugs or alcohol are able to find treatment goals that they are willing to work toward. If the person being treated doesn't want to stop and the only treatment goal is abstinence, the likelihood that they will quit is next to nothing.

Much empirical evidence suggest that this approach is the most effective form of treatment available, but for political reasons it is used only minimally in the United States.

This book reviews a wide range of studies that have been done on harm reduction. It provides basic descriptions of programs and makes recommendations on how to implement them more effectively. Topics covered include: moderation for alcohol usage, HIV/AIDS prevention, harm reduction for illegal drugs, methadone maintenance, needle exchange, and a variety of other topics.

If you've ever wondered what the effectiveness of these programs is, all the studies done on them are in this book. The last chapter presents an alternative public health approach to treatment as an alternative (likely to be more effective) to the war on drugs (which research suggests is having no effect on drug availability or rates of drug use).

This book is geared to addiction counselors and treatment providers, but would be good reading for parents, teachers, law enforcement officials or drug reform activists. I would recommend it to anyone who has interest.