Annie and Cliff join Michael Gilbert, a public health technologist and a harm reduction organizer for a conversation on how communists should relate to harm reduction efforts. They discuss the reasons why people use drugs, the role of drug availability in harm reduction, how international regulations shape the drug trade, and how that is used to justify politics such as strong borders and even invasions. They also discuss the roots of drug criminalization in the US and how that relates to public health outcomes, how harm reduction can be both self-organization of drug users and something brought from outside, the particularity of the words harm reduction, and how that reflects on the ethics of drug use. Finally, they touch on Michael’s personal experiences organizing around harm reduction, and how to go beyond just being a red charity.
