GEG 3303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Harm Reduction
22 Jun 2019
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Document Summary
Community responses to substance use and stigma are essential in the production of knowledge. Substance use is usually referred to as negative. Substance use is a spectrum (never use substances, sometimes use substances, always use substances). All contribute meaning to the wider perspective of substance use. Things are not always as they appear, some things are not always just healthy, while others are not always just unhealthy. Unhealthy: drink too much water, tainted water sources, over-exercise. Something can be healthy, unhealthy or both, depending on the context. Harm reduction emphasizes autonomy, practicality and the social and physical aspects of substance use, risk and health. Total abstinence from substance use is unlikely and unreasonable for most. What one can do is empower individuals to bettie understand their relationship, act on strategies to use substances differently, change frequency, abstain. Equipment, access to information, community, become tools of effective harm reduction. Party and play: growing feature of queer men"s lives.
