Last spring, Charlotte Combe ’26 and Mona Hamad ’25 founded Substance Use Harm Reduction at Colorado College with three goals in mind: to provide a small and consistent group of club members to train for and volunteer at the community partner’s syringe exchange program; to provide opportunities for CC students to learn about harm reduction and overdose prevention on campus through workshops, events, and the creation of education resources; and to organize for harm reduction advocacy at the city and state level through phone banking, writing legislators, and testifying in support of bills.

To accomplish this, the two students partnered with Love Alive, 这是一项由CC校友为应对埃尔帕索县吸毒过量率过高而发起的基于社区的倡议. 爱活着为社区成员提供芬太尼试纸和纳洛酮, as well as offering various training sessions, including Narcan administration, overdose prevention training for local businesses, and harm reduction training in faith communities.

Melissa Chizmar ’15, who graduated from CC with a degree in Psychology, is the prevention services manager at Love Alive.

“In El Paso County, overdose rates have increased in recent years, making harm reduction an even more vital tool in saving lives,” says Combe. “After meeting with Love Alive in person, 我们很高兴能为他们的注射器服务项目提供源源不断的志愿者. Through the syringe access program, 无家可归的人可以免费获得干净的注射器，并与免费公共汽车等社区资源相连.”

库姆布的药物使用减少伤害原则之旅始于她高中的一名学生吸毒过量，并在午餐休息时间在离学校一个街区的加油站去世.

“My whole life, I've been taught an abstinence, ‘D.A.R.E’ model of drug use; adults always told me to ‘just say no’ to drugs,” Combe says. “The thing is that doesn’t reflect reality. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 19.2017年，700万12岁及以上的美国成年人与药物使用障碍作斗争. 很可能现在正在读这篇文章的许多人都在与成瘾作斗争，或者个人认识一些人. 显然，预防吸毒的“说不”模式并不符合人们的实际情况.”

“Similar to Charlotte, my interest in safer substance use and harm reduction principles began as a response to restrictive education,” says Hamad. “我在德克萨斯州长大，那里是圣经地带的中心，唯一受过教育的地方 we received was abstinence-based. 药物使用者被污名化，并被描绘成受过最少正规教育的人 and violent criminals, not as humans with addictions. 我清楚地记得，早在六年级的时候，我就挤在电视屏幕前观看有关大麻的视频 is a gateway drug’ and to ‘never give in to peer pressure.’ I also watched how this form of education, and lack thereof, had significant negative repercussions.”

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 减少伤害是一种切实可行的办法，以吸毒者的生活和生活经验为中心，并纳入社区驱动的公共卫生战略.

“减少伤害认识到，每个人都在自己的药物使用之旅中, 每个人都应该得到同情和尊重，不管他们是否吸毒,” Combe says. “减少伤害的目的是让人们活下去，这样他们就可以安全地使用药物，并可以选择在自己的时间和条件下停止使用药物. 我们每天都使用一些工具来减轻潜在的危害——安全带、防晒霜、节育措施. Why should it be any different with drug use? Studies show that when people have access to clean syringes, naloxone, and education about safe drug use, lives are saved.”

​“Working as an EMT in Houston, 我也认识到药物使用者是如何得不到充分的服务和虐待的,” Hamad says. “Conservative legislature meant that my Narcan training was useless; no EMT-Bs are allowed to administer Naloxone in Houston. Overdose calls were heartbreaking, 服用过量阿片类药物的人必须等待更长的时间才能得到挽救生命的治疗. This is why Substance Use Harm Reduction at CC’s focus on political and legislative advocacy is so important; lawmaking without compassion leads to preventable deaths.” 

库姆拥有社会学和性别研究的双学位，并在校园健康资源中心担任同伴健康教育者, 她在哪里工作，以进一步促进校园减少伤害和其他健康实践.

“过量预防是我非常关心的事情，”库姆说. “我最终希望有一天能作为公共卫生律师帮助制定公共卫生政策.”

“I joined Substance Use Harm Reduction at CC because there aren’t 在我的家乡有很多这样的资源，所以我想赋予它们力量 life-saving 哈马德说，他主修分子生物学，辅修全球健康. “I also plan on going 成为某种形式的病人护理，所以我接受教育很重要 in how to help our vulnerable populations.”

CC减少物质使用危害每周在健康资源中心举行一次会议. 该俱乐部向任何想要学习和实践减少物质使用危害原则的学生开放. 那些能够坚持每周做几个小时志愿者的学生可以参加“活着的爱”的注射器项目. 有兴趣的学生谁不能承诺那么多时间可以参加每月注射器清理和帮助包装安全使用工具包.

“在本学期初的俱乐部展会上与学生们交谈真的很鼓舞人心,” says Combe. “我们校园里的许多人都关心减少伤害和预防过量服用，并希望参与其中!”

了解更多信息或加入赌博正规的十大网站减少物质使用危害, please check out the club’s Instagram or email Charlotte Combe or Mona Hamad.