What is Alcohol Harm Reduction?
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IHRA & Alcohol Harm Reduction
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GAHR-Net: The Global Alcohol Harm Reduction Network
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What is Alcohol Harm Reduction?
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Alcohol is no ordinary commodity. It is a drug which causes significant mental, physical and social harms for many people – yet is legal and brings health, personal, cultural, economic and social benefits for many others. Alcohol harm reduction can be broadly defined as targeted measures that aim to reduce the negative consequences of drinking rather than focusing on the overall consumption of alcohol.
This is not a new concept – and has been around for many years (perhaps for even longer than harm reduction for illicit drugs) – but is nonetheless controversial for many in the alcohol field. However, IHRA strongly believes that a comprehensive and effective alcohol policy requires population-level interventions which focus on the availability and accessibility of alcohol (such as taxation and restricted licensing hours) and harm reduction interventions which focus on specific behaviours (such as drinking and driving), groups (such as binge drinkers) and drinking contexts (such as the night-time economy in city centres). These latter approaches have broadened the sphere of interest in alcohol related harms to include social nuisance and public order problems. They are practical, realistic approaches, and are often (but not exclusively) designed and delivered at the community level. Importantly, they perfectly complement the more traditional population-level approaches, for which there is a solid evidence base.
Examples of alcohol harm reduction in practice include:
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- ‘Designated driver’ schemes to reduce drinking and driving
- Improving public transport in the evenings to reduce drinking and driving
- Serving alcohol in shatter-proof glass or plastic in order to prevent injuries
- Training bar staff to serve alcohol responsibly
- Promoting the safer design of drinking environments (such as bars)
- Brief interventions advising people on moderate or controlled drinking
- Providing shelters for homeless drinkers (known as ‘Wet Centres’)
- Providing shelters for heavily intoxicated individuals (known as ‘Sobering-Up Centres’)
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IHRA & Alcohol Harm Reduction
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IHRA is the leading organisation promoting a harm reduction approach for all psychoactive substances on a global basis. IHRA exists to prevent the negative social, health, economic and criminal impacts of illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco for individuals, communities and society.
In 2004, IHRA made a strategic decision to expand its focus from illegal drugs towards ‘all psychoactive substances’ – including alcohol – in order to campaign for a broader harm reduction agenda. This decision was made to try and encourage the alcohol field to generate, evaluate and embrace new ideas and more practical solutions to alcohol problems and harms. The long term goal of IHRA’s alcohol harm reduction work is to seek acceptance (whether from national governments, local agencies or international organisations) for a harm reduction approach to reducing drinking-related problems.
GAHR-Net: The Global Alcohol Harm Reduction Network
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In 2007, IHRA launched GAHR-Net – the Global Alcohol Harm Reduction Network. The group currently has over 900 members from around the world, all of whom are part of a ‘Google Group’ online discussion forum which was established in September 2008.
GAHR-Net aims to develop a sense of belonging and community amongst those who support or practice alcohol harm reduction by providing an accessible and free forum for researchers, advocates, practitioners, policy makers and communities. The online discussion group aims to enable information exchange, the sharing of best practice and experiences, and discussions around key issues in the field. It also allows IHRA to disseminate important news about alcohol harm reduction developments, research and events. The network is free to join for both individuals and organisations, and all messages are pre-moderated for security reasons.
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Once you join GAHR-Net, you should receive an automated email confirming your subscription, and you can then post your messages to GAHR-Net@GoogleGroups.com.
IHRA has a great deal of experience in creating harm reduction networks and, as such, is an ideal ‘moderator’ for GAHR-Net. IHRA does not receive any funding from the alcohol industry for this work (please see the IHRA Governance Information for more information.
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