Support Harm Reduction

Acxel’s testimonial was part of a communication campaign, “Support Harm Reduction—Harm Reduction Saves Lives,” that Vital Strategies designed to persuade elected officials and policymakers to put harm reduction at the center of overdose response. More than 100,000 people a year die of drug overdoses in the U.S., far surpassing car crashes and firearm fatalities combined. Harm reduction has been shown to reduce that toll.

Nonetheless, a long legacy of racially motivated messaging and entrenched interests in punitive systems have created virulent opposition to harm reduction. Vital Strategies set out to win over policymakers’ minds and hearts by featuring people who had been helped by such measures, memorializing those who had not made it, and showcasing the work of harm reduction specialists.

In this context, Vital’s campaign positioned harm reductionists as heroes. A full-page ad in The New York Times, plastered with the faces of more than 200 harm reduction specialists, captured policymakers’ and influencers’ attention. A memorial website invited people to leave photos of their loved ones lost to overdose, in an online mosaic reminiscent of the AIDS quilt. In-person memorial events were held in several states.

Harm reduction works to keep people who use drugs safe and healthy without demanding or forcing abstinence. It saves lives and money by reducing fatal overdoses, preventing the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, and connecting people to services that help them stabilize their lives, on their own terms. Such services can include information, connections to health care and social supports,  and other tools to help people change at their own pace.

It is not about trying to force people to stop using drugs. Rather, harm reduction practices offer information and advice, useful supplies, and services to people to make their drug use less harmful, and on their own terms. Harm reduction practices have been shown to improve health and safety by encouraging and supporting people to care for themselves and their communities. The approach humanizes people who are using drugs, approaching them as people needing compassionate health services rather than criminalization.

The campaign addressed misconceptions, dispelled negative perceptions about drug use and people who use drugs, and described the alternatives to punitive and abstinence-based approaches. By fostering an emotional connection to overdose, the campaign built public demand for the political will and resources to end the crisis, expanded understanding of the success of harm reduction strategies among policymakers, and identified funding as a goal.

Ads ran online in social media news feeds and website banners, combined with poignant videos broadcast on major television networks, including CNN, MSNBC, BET and the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The ads drove people to the “Support Harm Reduction” campaign site, where they could learn more about five key harm reduction interventions: methadone and buprenorphine treatment, syringe access services, naloxone, drug checking services, and overdose prevention centers. The site also featured an online memorial that honored lives lost to overdose and created a platform for demanding action. Featuring people directly affected by the crisis painted a relatable picture of addiction, shifting the emotion evoked from aversion to empathy.

Ads appeared under the banner of The Washington Post, as campaign screenshots on the website for People.com, and on the Weather Channel and Yahoo! There were also mobile billboards and social media feeds.

The campaign achieved high visibility and garnered the support of the rich tapestry of groups pushing for harm reduction. Other cities and states took notice, with at least one major metropolitan area seeking help to create a media campaign about harm reduction. In addition, the campaign generated positive media attention, both from the paid ads and from Overdose Memorial events in New Jersey and around the country, including Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The initial phase of the campaign gained more than 43 million total impressions across digital displays, digital video, Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram. The video exceeded expectations, with about 6.3 million views, including 5.8 million completed views—a remarkable video completion rate of 72%.

In a subsequent phase of the campaign, Vital Strategies and Luceo Images created harm reduction “DIY” event boxes that were delivered to 300 organizations across more than 20 states, with each box containing physical and digital materials that helped community organizations and local stakeholders host their own harm reduction awareness events.

In the end, evaluation demonstrated that the campaign had improved public understanding of harm reduction, increased empathy for people who use drugs and boosted support for making services available. Importantly, support for harm reduction grew across partisan and demographic groups. Afterward, 43% of people surveyed remembered the campaign without being prompted. Many of the 45 million people exposed to the campaign said it had inspired them to take further action. At least 75% of those surveyed after seeing the campaign said it changed their perceptions of people who use drugs and made them curious to learn more about harm reduction.

This showed that personal testimonials and explicit discussion of drug use was a powerful way to reach people and change their perceptions. Going forward, the goal is to promote de-stigmatization in the media via more testimonial campaigns. Normalizing people who use drugs humanizes them, and campaigns can push services, promote culture change and advocate for policy support.

“We need a wholesale shift away from the punitive, carceral approach to drug use, and toward public health strategies rooted in compassion and dignity,” said Dr. Daliah Heller, Vice President of Drug Use Initiatives at Vital Strategies.