TW: Discusses: Drug Use/Addiction, Drug Overdose, Mentions: Sexual Assault
“Harm reduction is about love, compassion, and humanizing people,” said Destinee Campenella. Destinee is currency a Harm Reduction Coordinator for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction Division. Harm reduction means a lot of different things to everyone. However, the National Harm Reduction Coalition describes it as “a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.” Harm reduction comes in many forms including education, advocacy, and prevention. Over the years, both legal and illegal drug use has come to be known as an unavoidable part of the culture. Whether it be prescriptions from surgery or illegally obtained drugs, they are around and have not been shown to go anywhere. This is why harm reduction has grown in recognition.
Prevention in harm reduction tends to be a controversial and sensitive subject. One of the biggest reasons behind the controversy is stigma. The DSM-V categorizes drug and/or alcohol addiction as a mental disorder. Just like any other mental health disorder, addiction comes with a very big stigma around it. Destinee stated that “stigma always plays a significant role. I constantly witness people really mistreat and stigmatize people who use drugs.” While Destinee aids in the harm reduction efforts from a larger, city-wide standpoint, people are trying to help and spread awareness on much smaller scales, too.
Jennifer Kline is a senior at Coastal Carolina University, set to graduate in May 2022 with a Bachelors in Communications. Her undergraduate thesis is currently centered around harm reduction as a concept. Furthermore, she has been in discussions with professors about different ways to implement harm reduction on college campuses. One of the concepts being discussed was potentially supplying Resident Advisors (RAs) with Narcan. However, campus-wide availability of Narcan and other harm reduction supplies is also up in discussion. Jennifer said she strongly believes in having harm reduction strategies available on campus, as well as education. Coastal Carolina University students take training in Alcohol Education (Alcohol Edu) and Sexual Assault Prevention. If harm reduction was implemented within campuses, Jennifer explains that it would only be appropriate for Narcan administration and other harm reduction courses to be added to these required training. When asked if harm reduction for drug use should be implemented in training, regardless of programs being introduced, Jennifer said “Absolutely. There’s not a stigma for college students to need their stomach pumped from drinking too much alcohol, because they ‘overdid’ it at a party. But it’s stigmatized for Narcan availability for accidental drug overdoses.”
Many supporters of harm reduction believe that different views should be considered. Destinee explains that “We need to talk about drug use the same as we do with sex,” and continues to say “It is impractical to think anyone can eliminate drug use, so we need to talk about ways to stay safe.” Destinee is responsible for playing a role in big steps of harm reduction in the city of Philadelphia. While she has been in her role, she implemented the first official fentanyl test strip training and managed the first part of the outreach campaign. She was also part of a team that started the “Narcan Near Me” program, which was the first of its kind in West Philadelphia. In addition to exploring the expansion of this program, she and her team are also preparing to launch Philadelphia’s very first drug-checking program. Outside of education and prevention, Destinee plays an active role in the environmental impacts of the war on drugs, such as establishing trashcan-like syringe disposals and community clean-ups. As of 2020, there were over 1,000 deaths attributed to unintentional drug overdoses and within the first six months of 2021, there were over 600 deaths. Final 2021 unintentional drug overdose statistics for Philadelphia are intended to be released in late spring of 2022.
While Jennifer is playing a huge role in social media advocacy outside of and in support of her thesis, she does want to do more for harm reduction. She intends on becoming a pharmaceutical representative, with a focus on overdose prevention products such as Narcan and cancer supplements. Jennifer has been impacted greatly by both accidental drug overdoses resulting in death – as has Destinee – and cancer. Jennifer shared that her reasoning for advocating harm reduction through her thesis was the loss of her best friend. Her friend was a local to Myrtle Beach, taking college classes online. “No one thought she would be the ‘type’ of person to overdose, because of the stereotypes and stigma,” Jennifer expressed, “Her father was a state trooper, she was in college, and just didn’t fit the profile.” Jennifer explained that if someone her friend was with had and knew how to administer Narcan, her friend would likely still be alive today. In support of awareness, Jennifer conducted polls via her personal Instagram stories. 65% of participants said they knew someone who had experienced a drug overdose, however, 56% of those participants admitted they do not know how to administer Narcan. 88% of the participants were in favor of having Narcan availability and training within campus housing and communities.
Jennifer notes her hometown of Alexandria, VA has implemented Narcan programs and hopes more areas hope to do the same. While Jennifer is close to graduating and has been told her wishes of implementing programs within the Coastal Carolina campus may not be completed before her time ends, she hopes that her thesis opens campus officials’ eyes. Destinee is in favor of campuses introducing Narcan programs, as well, noting that former programs such as D.A.R.E. were proven ineffective. Destinee ended on a note that “… a person does not have to be a problematic or chaotic drug user to be at risk of an overdose, so it’s important to talk about overdose prevention,” which was a clear example of Jennifer’s best friend.
If you or someone you know faces drug addiction, the SAMHSA hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-662-4357.To teach yourself how to administer Narcan, websites such as this provide the necessary steps. The website also has information regarding how to obtain Narcan.