National Harm Reduction Coalition

08/21/2026

We’re taking a social media break until September 9, and we will respond to our messages, comments, and mentions when we return. Resources, including our Naloxone Finder Map, can be found 24/7 on our website: harmreduction.org.

08/20/2026

Each year when International Overdose Awareness Day comes around, we are starkly reminded of the heartbreak of losing our loved ones to overdose. They should be here. They were so loved, and are loved still. While grief can be layered and a continued presence in our lives, we’re reminding folks to be gentle with themselves as we mark this heavy day and all it represents.

We honor those whose lives were stolen by overdose by speaking their names to keep their memory alive, standing up for all people who use drugs, and working to build a future where everyone is safe, free from harassment and stigma, has the care they need, and is radically loved. We encourage folks to look through our Grieving Overdose Zine while navigating through this immense loss, and remember we are stronger together.
bit.ly/GrievingOverdoseZine

08/18/2026

Trabajando con organizaciones socias y utilizando información obtenida de los Programas de Servicios de Jeringas (SSP), desarrollamos una hoja informativa que describe cómo los SSP pueden facilitar el acceso a los servicios para el VHC. Deslice el dedo para ver una vista previa y consulta la ficha informativa completa, también disponible en inglés: bit.ly/AmpliandoElAccesoALaAtencionParaElVirusHepatitisC

Crédito de la foto: Safer Care, SSP of Safer Together

North American Syringe Exchange Network

08/18/2026

Working with partners and using insights from Syringe Services Programs (SSPs), we developed a fact sheet that outlines how SSPs can make HCV services more accessible. Swipe for a preview and check out the full fact sheet, also available in Spanish: bit.ly/ExpandingHCVCare

Photo credit: Safer Care, SSP of Safer Together
North American Syringe Exchange Network

08/17/2026

Health care is a human right, and we continue to see those rights ignored and overlooked. Like several other states and countries worldwide, accessible HIV care is being stripped away. This WHRO Public Media coverage lays out some of the latest in Virginia, though this is a global issue deeply connected to harm reduction and its U.S. roots.

"People living with HIV don’t know when their next refills will come for lifesaving medication, more than a year after the Virginia Department of Health cut funding to HIV clinics serving people who can’t afford healthcare. Many clients of Virginia clinics that lost such funding are weeks away from running out of antiretroviral medication, some providers said. And nonprofit providers around the state said lawmakers’ efforts to restore some funding to clinics won’t be enough to make up losses," the piece notes.

Health Brigade

Despite lawmakers’ effort to backfill funding in the new state budget, HIV care in Virginia will lose even more money after a settlement with an HIV drug company.

08/14/2026

First session is today! We hope you'll join us.

08/13/2026

People who use drugs deserve adequate, stigma-free health care on their own terms. Experts in drug use and its impacts, people who use drugs have been sharing how there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach when it comes to treatment. A study recently outlined in The New York Times expands on this.

"The study reinforces the belief among many addiction experts that, for high-tolerance patients, the standard treatment regimens for opioid addiction have become outdated. Doses of medications such as buprenorphine and methadone, opioids that help satisfy cravings without inducing a high, were calculated to treat addictions to he**in and prescription painkillers. The results of the new research, experts said, support a growing call by clinicians for treatment guidelines to be revised to keep pace with the convulsive drug market.

'When patients say their withdrawal is not being treated well, it’s important to listen,'" the coverage shares.

New research shows that tolerance has become so strong that common treatments for opioid addiction are no longer effective for many patients.

08/12/2026

So long as drug use is criminalized, we will continue to see an ever-changing and dangerous drug supply. As this Filter - magazine coverage notes, some of the latest known data shows overdose rate increases in western U.S., with a slower decrease overall nationally. Learn more about the findings below.

The most recent monthly provisional overdose death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the rate of ...

08/11/2026

Harm reduction is public health, and public health is always worth the investment and energy. To expand these programs and associated services is to save lives and support the empowerment of entire communities. We cannot roll back the clock on the progress we've made in reducing overdose deaths, and we have so much more work to do. This Guardian US piece outlines the many issues that come from cutting back on life-saving care.

"Some of the new policies 'are in tension with public health' and would undermine that work, including 'prioritizing parental control over, potentially, children’s health and community health,' said Dorit Reiss, a vaccines expert and professor at UC Law San Francisco. 'Similarly, housing programs and harm reduction programs save lives and promote health,' she said," the coverage notes.

Experts say move signals greater political interference into public health and will exacerbate opioid overdose crisis

08/06/2026

NHRC’s capacity building team traveled to Casper, Wyoming to co-host the Wyoming Health and Resilience Summit. This event co-sponsored by the Wyoming Department of Health brought together community organizers, academics, social services and health care providers working in WY across the prevention, treatment, and recovery spectrum to learn from each other and discuss ways to better serve people who use drugs and their communities.

We express our gratitude to summit presenters and attendees for sharing their time and expertise, and give a huge shoutout to Courtney Titus, NHRC’s WY logistics consultant, and Felicia Blindman, a public health nurse in WY, who were key in organizing and making this event happen so successfully.