Amid backlash to harm reduction, addiction experts warn against reprising ‘war on drugs’
SAN FRANCISCO — Amid what feels like an ever-worsening drug crisis here, locals and politicians alike are fed up. Overdose death rates remain near all-time highs. The Tenderloin, a historic downtown neighborhood, remains rife with open-air substance use and drug dealing. Public health officials are increasingly at a loss.
In recent years, much of the backlash has come to focus on harm reduction, the philosophy and practice of reducing the most acute drug-related harms without expecting abstinence from drug users.
