ReviewHarm reduction theory: Users’ culture, micro-social indigenous harm reduction, and the self-organization and outside-organizing of users’ groups
Section snippets
The setting
At the time HIV entered New York City's IDU population in approximately 1975 (Des Jarlais et al., 1989) IDUs were living in a particularly hostile legal and sociopolitical environment. The Rockefeller Drug Laws, passed in 1973, posed a constant threat of long-term imprisonment. New York City government's fiscal crisis led to the closing of many social services. Partly because of this, massive waves of arson-induced and other fires ravaged impoverished and minority areas of the city, leaving
Conclusions
This review is subject to several limitations. First, it reviews a relatively small number of localities out of the many places where drug users have had to deal with HIV/AIDS and related diseases. Formal users groups, for example, are very widespread, existing in Latin America, Canada, the USA (often underground or hiding as service providers), Europe, Asia, and Australia. Second, this review is limited by the relatively narrow research base on drug users’ micro-social responses to the
Acknowledgements
We want to acknowledge the contributions of thousands of drug users and others who have donated their time and understanding to help combat HIV and other epidemics.
New York Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge support from US National Institute on Drug Abuse project R01 DA13128 (Networks, Norms, and HIV/STI Risk among Youth) and its supplement (Networks, Norms & Risk in Argentina's Social Turmoil); P30 DA11041 (Center for Drug Use and HIV Research); Fogarty International
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