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Description:

Social workers (like health professionals) are trained in abstinence based approaches to dealing with substance use disorders. People who use drugs are labelled as ‘addicts’ whose goal should be abstinence. This goal, however, is often not in line with what clients are able or willing to achieve. The therapeutic relationship is therefore compromised as clients with a drug use disorder hide their ‘using’ because of fear of judgement and reprisal. More broadly, the ‘war on drugs’ has proven to be an absolute failure with the US witnessing a massive year-on surge in drug use, particularly opioids. In the light of this, it is critical to shift our perspective and to look at more evidence-based interventions that meet the clients where they are at. Working with clients with a drug use disorder should be viewed more as accompanying them on their journey to life normalisation. This approach is embodied in harm reduction which is now globally recognised as a far more humane and effective way of dealing with drug use. I will speak to harm reduction and to the use of opioid substitution therapy, in a way which is low-threshold, as a means for assisting people in dealing with opioid use disorders.

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