Yuba Harm Reduction Collective mission statement
Our vision is to create a community of care that centers the experiences of people who use drugs and those who love them. We acknowledge the ever-present reality of substance use and we work to address the potentially harmful aspects of drug use, along with the discriminatory policies and forms of structural violence that surround it.
We seek to destigmatize the consumption of all psychoactive substances, increase knowledge around safe drug use, decrease barriers to resources and services, and serve our community’s needs, as defined by the people of our community through open dialogue and collaboration.
Our goal is for all people to live safer and healthier lives, regardless of substance use, housing status, mental health status, disability, race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, economic status, immigration status, incarceration status, religion or any other labels that may marginalize a person’s experience.
harm reduction principles
As stated by the National Harm Reduction Coalition
one
Accepts, for better and or worse, that licit and illicit drug use is part of our world and chooses to work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn them.
two
Understands drug use as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses a continuum of behaviors from severe abuse to total abstinence, and acknowledges that some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others.
three
Establishes quality of individual and community life and well-being–not necessarily cessation of all drug use–as the criteria for successful interventions and policies.
four
Calls for the non-judgmental, non-coercive provision of services and resources to people who use drugs and the communities in which they live in order to assist them in reducing attendant harm.
five
Ensures that people who use drugs and those with a history of drug use routinely have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them
six
Affirms people who use drugs (PWUD) themselves as the primary agents of reducing the harms of their drug use and seeks to empower PWUD to share information and support each other in strategies which meet their actual conditions of use
seven
Recognizes that the realities of poverty, class, racism, social isolation, past trauma, sex-based discrimination, and other social inequalities affect both people’s vulnerability to and capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm
eight
Does not attempt to minimize or ignore the real and tragic harm and danger that can be associated with illicit drug use