Current and future perspectives on harm reduction in the European Union

Over the last 20 years, whether as an overarching concept, or as shorthand for specific interventions, ‘harm reduction’ has changed the way we think about and respond to drug problems in Europe. Debates continue today about what sort of interventions legitimately fall under the heading of harm reduction, and what value they bring. However, measures that reduce harm, but do not specifically attempt to reduce drug use, are an important element in a drug strategy and harm reduction is now a largely uncontested component of European drug policy. Indeed, practice is ahead of political rhetoric in this respect, with governments sometimes being more cautious in their public pronouncements than they are in their actions.