Harm Reduction : Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors

Harm reduction principles and strategies are designed to minimize the destructive consequences of illicit drug use and other behaviors that may pose serious health risks. Rather than insisting on abstinence as a prerequisite to continued treatment, proponents of the harm reduction approach aim to meet drug users "where they're at" with community-based services that empower diverse clients to set and meet their own treatment goals. The first major harm reduction text, this provocative and timely volume examines a wide range of current applications--from needle exchange and methadone maintenance programs, to alternative alcohol interventions and AIDS prevention campaigns. Insight is also offered into the often contentious philosophical and policy-related debates surrounding this growing movement.

G. Alan Marlatt, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, where he has been on the faculty since 1972. Dr. Marlatt's major focus in both research and clinical work is the field of addictive behaviors. Widely published, he is the coeditor of Assessment of Addictive Behaviors (with Dennis M. Donovan) and Relapse Prevention (with Judith R. Gordon), and the coauthor of Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (with Linda Dimeff, John S. Baer, and Daniel R. Kivalan). In 1996, Dr. Marlatt was appointed as a member of the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH). His research is supported by a Senior Scientist Award and a MERIT Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In 1990, he received the Jellinek Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to knowledge in the field of alcohol studies.