Two Essential Resources that are Redefining Harm Reduction
Only one in ten Americans with a substance use disorder receive treatment. What about the other ninety percent? According to the most recent data, nearly all people suffering from addiction who don’t get treatment fail to do so because they don’t think they need treatment.
With the stakes so high, how do we reach more people? As the opioid crisis continues to claim tens of thousands of lives each year, we must find new ways to expand evidence-based addiction care to those who don’t necessarily see their own struggle, and to those who are not ready to quit. While treatment and recovery remain long-term goals, the immediate priority is keeping people alive.
Two innovative and little-known resources playing critical roles in keeping Americans with addiction alive are the Never Use Alone hotline, and NEXT Distro. Both are free. We should all be familiar with both.
1. The Never Use Alone hotline: A Lifeline for Solo Opioid Use
One of the most dangerous aspects of opioid use disorder is using opioids alone. If a person overdoses while alone, there is often no one available to administer naloxone (Narcan) or call emergency services. The Never Use Alone hotline was created to address this risk.
Available nationwide, this free and confidential service allows people who are using opioids to call and speak with a trained operator who will stay on the line with them during use. If the caller becomes unresponsive, the operator can immediately alert emergency medical services with the caller’s location, potentially saving their life.
This simple, compassionate service fills a critical gap in care. This is not about enabling drug use; it is about acknowledging reality and providing a safety net for individuals who are not yet in recovery. Everyone’s life is worth saving—every time.
The hotline can be reached at 1-800-484-3731, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
2. NEXT Distro: Harm Reduction Delivered to Your Door
Another vital harm reduction resource is NEXT Distro. NEXT Distro is an online platform that allows anyone in the U.S. to access free naloxone (Narcan) to have on hand for opioid overdose reversal, and other essential supplies to reduce injury and disease transmission risk associated with drug use. By visiting their website, individuals can confidentially request naloxone kits to be shipped directly to their homes, often at no cost.
In addition to naloxone, NEXT Distro also provides clean syringes and injection supplies in participating states. These supplies reduce the transmission of infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C, prevent abscesses and other complications from unsafe injection practices, and ultimately connect users to a network of support.
NEXT Distro is more than just a delivery service—it is a community-driven model of compassionate, accessible care that meets people where they are so they can remain alive long enough to engage in addiction treatment if and when they are ready.
Harm Reduction Care is Health Care
Harm Reduction is an evidence-based addiction treatment approach that emphasizes continued provider support and treatment in the context of ongoing substance use-specifically by finding ways to reduce the dangerousness of substance use to those ninety percent who are not yet ready or willing to stop.
As an addiction psychiatrist, I’ve seen firsthand the impact that harm reduction services can have. These tools don’t encourage drug use—they acknowledge that people use drugs. They acknowledge the limits of human persuasion over a powerful and often deadly brain disease. They acknowledge that keeping a person alive long enough to want to change offers the best possible chance for future recovery.
Most importantly, harm reduction offers the unconditional support that is so desperately needed for those suffering with addiction. It says, “I am always here for you- no matter what you do.” Finally, harm reduction acknowledges that every person-no matter their current actions- deserves a chance to survive and eventually recover.
Harm reduction helps build trust between providers and patients, reduce stigma around addiction treatment, and most importantly, saves thousands of lives.
The Never Use Alone hotline and NEXT Distro are shining examples of what it means to approach addiction with humanity, compassion, flexibility, and pragmatism. These programs are not replacements for comprehensive treatment or recovery programs—but they are essential components that keep people alive long enough to ultimately get to those programs.
The goal is to keep people safe and alive-even those ninety percent who aren’t yet ready or willing to engage in formal “addiction treatment services.” Harm reduction is not a compromise—it’s a cornerstone in the fight to reduce overdose deaths. It’s a roadmap for building a more comprehensive, inclusive path toward healing and recovery for all.
-Lauren