A New York-based group with a specific focus on drug abuse and overdose awareness in one of the most populous cities in California is facing pushback for one of its campaigns that encourages users to continue using drugs in ways that could benefit their personal health.
Self-described as a “nationwide advocate and ally for people who use drugs,” the National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) features a campaign under its Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) Project that encourages drug users in the San Francisco area to get high in ways that supposedly carry less risk of overdose or harm.
 A series of posters and advertisements from the DOPE Project, which were created in “collaboration with the real first responders in San Francisco – people who use drugs,” advises those who continue to use drugs to “do it with friends” or “to change it up” by “ingesting or smoking instead of snorting.”
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Another poster from the campaign, which features a gleeful group of drug users, advises to “take it easy” and “go slow” when using. “Use less at first to test the strength of your drugs,” one poster reads.
“Injecting drugs carries the highest risk of overdose, so try smoking or snorting instead,” another poster reads.
Other posters used by the campaign advise those who use drugs, as well as those who may be around drug users at the time of an overdose, on how to use naloxone – a medicine sold under certain brand names like Narcan that is known to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
“We’re better together,” one poster states. “Know the signs if someone is overdosing. Carry naloxone and know how to use it.”
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While there is little messaging about ways addicts can ditch drugs, a variety of other posters display quotes from drug users who said they – or someone they…
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