People are dying every day from preventable overdose deaths. We need to be doing all we can to stop this crisis from worsening. Measure 110 is one of the tools that can help, funding evidence-based harm reduction initiatives that are proven to work.
Harm reduction interventions reduce overdose deaths in our communities, and increase the likelihood that someone struggling with substance use will seek treatment. The CDC reports that people engaged with harm reduction services are five times more likely to enter drug treatment than people who don’t utilize these programs.
Those of us doing direct service to address this crisis need all of the tools and dollars available to save lives. In all my time doing harm reduction work, I have never seen the drug supply as deadly as it is now, nor have I seen it change as quickly and as often as I am seeing it change right now.
For over 20 years I have worked in the field of harm reduction. It has never been easy work, but the last few years have gotten so much harder as fentanyl and other novel substances have changed the way people are using drugs.
The number of people who are losing their lives to overdose today is nearly three times higher than it was in 2019. There are weeks when I am hearing about the deaths of two or three people in a week.