Harm reduction saves lives. We believe everyone deserves dignity, safety, and support — regardless of where they are in their journey.
Find help now →Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use. It is grounded in justice, human rights, and respect for the people who use drugs.
Rather than demanding abstinence as a precondition for support, harm reduction recognizes that people are at different stages in their lives and their relationship with substances. Every person deserves care — not judgment, not conditions, not a lecture. Just care.
Every person who uses drugs is a whole human being deserving of respect, compassion, and quality services — no exceptions, no prerequisites.
Drug use is part of human history. Rather than trying to eliminate it, we focus on minimizing the harms it can cause — to individuals, families, and communities.
Sobriety is one option, not the only option. Safer use, managed use, reduced use — any step that reduces harm is a step worth supporting.
People who use drugs are the primary agents of reducing harm in their own lives. Their voices, experiences, and expertise must guide the work.
Poverty, racism, trauma, housing instability, and criminalization create and worsen the harms of drug use. Individual behavior change without addressing systems is incomplete.
Harm reduction strategies are backed by decades of research. Syringe services reduce HIV. Naloxone reverses overdoses. Safe supply reduces poisoning deaths. The evidence is clear.
Harm reduction isn't abstract — it's clean needles, naloxone kits, wound care, connection to treatment, and someone who gives a damn. These are the frontline services that keep people alive long enough to choose what's next.
Clean needle exchange reduces HIV and Hepatitis C transmission. Also provides safer use supplies, disposal, and connection to care.
Narcan (naloxone) reverses opioid overdoses in minutes. Free kits and training are available throughout Michigan. Carrying it saves lives.
Fentanyl test strips and spectrometry let people know what's actually in their supply. Knowledge is power — and survival.
Buprenorphine (Suboxone), methadone, and naltrexone are proven treatments for opioid use disorder. They work. They save lives.
Mobile wound care for injection-related infections and xylazine injuries. Meeting people where they are — sometimes literally on the street.
Street-based outreach, encampment visits, shelter connections. Building trust. Being present. Handing someone a bottle of water and a conversation.
Naloxone (Narcan) is a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It's safe, easy to use, and available without a prescription in Michigan. You don't need medical training. You just need to be there.
Slow or no breathing, blue lips, unresponsive
Michigan's Good Samaritan Law protects you
Nasal spray — one spray in one nostril
Rescue breathing, recovery position, stay with them
"Harm reduction is built on the belief that there is no threshold a person must cross before they deserve help."— National Harm Reduction Coalition
The leading national advocacy and capacity-building organization for harm reduction. Training, resources, policy, and community.
Visit →Free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information service. Available in English and Spanish. 1-800-662-4357.
Visit →Free naloxone by mail, anywhere in the US. No questions asked, no ID required. Just fill out the form and they send it.
Get Narcan →A phone line for people who use drugs alone. Call before you use — an operator stays on the line and sends help if you stop responding. 1-800-484-3731.
Visit →Drug checking supplies including fentanyl test strips, reagent testing kits, and education on safer use. Harm reduction for all substances.
Visit →State-level resources, naloxone access information, treatment locators, and data on the overdose crisis in Michigan.
Visit →If you or someone you love is struggling with substance use, help is available. You don't need to be in crisis to reach out. You don't need to be ready to quit. You just need to pick up the phone, and someone will listen.
Michigan's Good Samaritan Law protects people who call 911 during an overdose from prosecution for drug possession. Calling for help will not get you or the person in trouble. Call. Every time.