Editing Harm reduction (section)

==Criticism==
Critics, such as [[Drug Free America Foundation]] and other members of network ''International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy'', state that a risk posed by harm reduction is by creating the perception that certain behaviours can be partaken of safely, such as illicit drug use, that it may lead to an increase in that behaviour by people who would otherwise be deterred. The signatories of the drug prohibitionist network International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy stated that they oppose drug use harm reduction "...strategies as endpoints that promote the false notion that there are safe or responsible ways to use drugs. That is, strategies in which the primary goal is to enable drug users to maintain addictive, destructive, and compulsive behavior by misleading users about some drug risks while ignoring others."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The International Task Force Meeting Statement on So-Called 'Harm Reduction' Policies |url=http://www.itfsdp.org/pdfs/hrstatementbrussels.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806071752/http://www.itfsdp.org/pdfs/hrstatementbrussels.pdf |archive-date=6 August 2016 |access-date=11 August 2016 |website=Itfsdp.org}}</ref>

In 2008, the [[World Federation Against Drugs]] stated that while "...some organizations and local governments actively advocate the legalization of drugs and promote policies such as "harm reduction" that accept drug use and do not help people who use substances to become free from substance use. This undermines the international efforts to limit the supply of and demand for drugs." The Federation states that harm reduction efforts often end up being "drug legalization or other inappropriate relaxation efforts, a policy approach that violates the UN Conventions."<ref>{{Cite web |title=WFAD Declaration &#124; World Federation Against Drugs |url=http://www.wfad.se/about-wfad/wfad-declaration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723190521/http://wfad.se/about-wfad/wfad-declaration |archive-date=23 July 2016 |access-date=11 August 2016 |website=Wfad.se}}</ref>

Critics furthermore reject harm reduction measures for allegedly trying to establish certain forms of drug use as acceptable in society. The Drug Prevention Network of Canada states that harm reduction has "...come to represent a philosophy in which illicit substance use is seen as largely unpreventable, and increasingly, as a feasible and acceptable lifestyle as long as use is not 'problematic{{'"}}, an approach which can increase "acceptance of drug use into the mainstream of society". They say harm reduction "...sends the wrong message to ... children and youth" about drug use.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 April 2010 |title=Drug Prevention Network Canada – Harm Reduction |url=http://www.dpnoc.ca/harm_reduction.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424034742/http://www.dpnoc.ca/harm_reduction.htm |archive-date=24 April 2010 |access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> In 2008, the Declaration of World Forum Against Drugs criticized harm reduction policies that "...accept drug use and do not help drug users to become free from drug abuse", which the group say undermines "...efforts to limit the supply of and demand for drugs." They state that harm reduction should not lead to less efforts to reduce drug demand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Declaration of World Forum Against Drugs |url=http://www.wfad08.org/_downloads/_pdf/Declaration%20of%20World%20Forum%20Against%20Drugs.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002032057/http://www.wfad08.org/_downloads/_pdf/Declaration%20of%20World%20Forum%20Against%20Drugs.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2008 |access-date=13 September 2008}}</ref>

Pope [[Benedict XVI]] criticised harm reduction policies with regards to HIV/AIDS, saying that it was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems".<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 March 2009 |title=Condoms 'not the answer to AIDS': Pope |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1012144/Condoms-%27not-the-answer-to-AIDS%27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615144646/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1012144/Condoms-%27not-the-answer-to-AIDS%27 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |access-date=23 June 2010 |website=World News Australia |publisher=SBS}}</ref> This position was in turn widely criticised for misrepresenting and oversimplifying the role of condoms in preventing infections.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kamerow D |year=2009 |title=The papal position on condoms and HIV |journal=BMJ |volume=338 |pages=b1217 |doi=10.1136/bmj.b1217 |pmid=19321547 |s2cid=30450691}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roehr B |year=2009 |title=Pope claims that condoms exacerbate HIV and AIDS problem |journal=BMJ |volume=338 |pages=b1206 |doi=10.1136/bmj.b1206 |pmid=19321545 |s2cid=27621688}}</ref>

A March 2025 study exploring the association of safer supply and decriminalization policy with opioid overdose outcomes in British Columbia, Canada, found that neither policy "appeared to mitigate the opioid crisis, and both were associated with an increase in opioid overdose hospitalizations."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nguyen |first1=Hai V. |last2=Mital |first2=Shweta |last3=Bugden |first3=Shawn |last4=McGinty |first4=Emma E. |date=2025-03-21 |title=Safer Opioid Supply, Subsequent Drug Decriminalization, and Opioid Overdoses |journal=JAMA Health Forum |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=e250101 |doi=10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.0101 |pmid=40116806 |pmc=11929020 |issn=2689-0186}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=JOANNOU |first=ASHLEY |date=2025-03-25 |title=B.C. drug decriminalization and safer supply associated with more overdoses, study shows |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bc-drug-decriminalization-and-safer-supply-associated-with-more/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref>