Harm reduction policies and programs for youth

In Canada, harm reduction has largely become accepted as the philosophical underpinning of the public health response to substance use. Examples of harm reduction strategies include methadone maintenance, needle exchange and server intervention programs. In general, these harm reduction interventions have had adult substance users as their implicit target. Increasingly, however, harm reduction is being advocated as a population-based strategy for all youth, not just those at high risk of harm. Proponents of harm reduction point to high rates of substance use among youth, the limited effectiveness of drug prevention programs and the difficulty of targeting programs to high-risk adolescents.