Transcript Harm Reduction 101

General Harm Reduction
• Know what you are buying
• Establish relationship with dealer
• Be flexible with intake method
– Be willing to change when favorite method is
not available or safe(snort when can’t have
clean needle; skin pop when light too dim)
• Take your time
Safer snorting
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Choose a safe place to chop up comfortably
Chop up fine
Steady hand not to drop
Snort on clean surface
Laminated plastic card, easy to clean
Alternate nostrils
Keep snorting tubes clean/don’t share
Put few drops of water/saline in nose after
snorting
Safer smoking
•
•
•
•
•
•
White powder in cigarettes
Brown base and tar smoke on foil
If chasing use foil tube
Use small flame for cooking
Don’t hold smoke in lungs
Keep inhaler w/you with asthma
Safer injecting
• Only skin pop or muscle w/easy dissolve
drug
• Add acid/vitamin C to brown base
• Heat even if easily dissolvable(15 sec)
• Sharp sterile syringe
• Clean cooker, new cotton
• Fresh water
Safer injecting continued
• Use smallest needle possible
• If you must share (needle and cooker)
– Wash syringe w/water
– Rinse twice with bleach
– Rinse again with water
• Keep shooting and cleaning water separate
• Clean injection site w/soap and water then
alcohol pad
• Rotate injection sites gives time to heal