arrow
Return

Decolonizing harm reduction COMMENT

delete2022-02-03
delete11
delete
OA
AI
G
Gideon Lasco *
DOI:10.1186/s12954-022-00593-wdelete
deleteOriginal
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
In this essay, I show that notwithstanding the undeniable colonial origins of punitive drug policies around the world, such policies have figured in nationalist projects and populist platforms in various postcolonial states, and today they are viewed as local responses to the 'drug problem.' Instead, it is harm reduction and other efforts to reform drug policies that are seen as a colonial, or Western, imposition. I argue that to overcome such perceptions, there is a need to decolonize harm reduction alongside decolonizing drug policies. I conclude by offering recommendations toward this move, including involving Global South actors in leadership positions within the harm reduction movement, supporting pilot harm reduction programs in postcolonial states, and highlighting local scholarship.
Keywords:
War on drugs
Drug policy
Decolonization
Harm reduction

Journal

Harm Reduction Journal cover
Harm Reduction Journal
IF:
4
Papers:
1.7K
Citations:
4.5K

Organization

University of the Philippines System cover
University of the Philippines System
Scholars:
6.2K
Papers: 3.8K
Citations: 2.5K
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

Decolonizing drug policy
err2021-11-27
err37
errOAAI
errDaniels, Colleen; Aluso, Aggrey; Burke-Shyne, Naomi; Koram, Kojo; Rajagopalan, Suchitra; Robinson, Imani; Shelly, Shaun; Shirley-Beavan, Sam; Tandon, Tripti
errShare
errSave
Harm reduction and Clean community: can Viet Nam have both?
err2012-01-01
err10
errOAAI
errThu Hong Khuat; Van Anh Thi Nguyen; Jardine, Melissa; Moore, Timothy; Thu Huong Bui; Crofts, Nick
errShare
errSave
Decolonising global health: if not now, when?
err2020-08-05
err207
errOAAI
errBuyum, Ali Murad; Kenney, Cordelia; Koris, Andrea; Mkumba, Laura; Raveendran, Yadurshini
errShare
errSave
errShare
errSave
The First Selenium Isologues of 2-Pyrones and Coumarins: Synthesis, Structures, and Reactions
err2017-07-05
err0
PREAI
errToshiaki Murai; Akihito Yoshida; Tomohiko Mizutani; Hiroaki Kubuki; Kirara Yamaguchi; Toshifumi Maruyama; Fumitoshi Shibahara
errShare
errSave
Harm reduction in Cambodia: a disconnect between policy and practice
err2012-07-09
err13
errOAAI
errChheng, Kannarath; Leang, Supheap; Thomson, Nick; Moore, Timothy; Crofts, Nick
errShare
errSave
no more