HARM REDUCTION AND SOCIAL-POLICY - SHOULD ADDICTS BE PAID

Harm reduction principles have not been applied to social policy progr ams that affect drug users. This paper considers whether income suppor ts for the drug-dependent poor might be harm reducing, given that a pr incipal harm related to drug dependence is crime committed to finance drug use. We examine the political fate of the principal income suppor t program in the United States that targeted the drug dependent. Revel ations that the money was being used in part for the purchase of drugs has led to a scaling back and tightening of the program. We suggest t hat the program might have been more effectively defended if attention had been paid to community harms rather than only to drug consumption by recipients. European and Australian governments provide income sup port which is no doubt also used for drug consumption, but in the cont ext of universalist income support programs they do not require a harm reduction defense. We conclude that great potential for reducing drug -related harm may fall well outside the domain of targeted drug policy , whether of the supply reduction, demand reduction or harm reduction variety.