Recovery and harm reduction

~ Jason Schwartz
An interesting statement on harm reduction and recovery:

We believe that recovery is best defined by the individual seeking it, and that it is not for academics or treatment providers to tell anyone what recovery should mean to them. We assert that for some people, recovery can be medication assisted for a short or longer time (on maintenance) whilst the person achieves other gains in health, social care and reintegration (participation in the rights, roles and responsibilities of society).

I wonder how bread the agreement would be on this statement:

Being drug free is the ultimate goal of harm reduction.

Very broad, I hope.

[via DrugScope]

Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.