Free support for people who are struggling with drug use.

Accepting

Drug use is part of our world, and we will work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn it.

Understanding

Drug use is complex and multifaceted, and it involves a wide range of behaviors, from severe abuse to total abstinence. Some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others.

Centered

Individual and community quality of life, rather than the cessation of all drug use, is the goal for successful interventions and policies.

Tolerant

Services and resources will be provided without passing judgement upon people who use drugs or threatening them to change.

Inclusive

Drug users have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them.

Empowering

Drug users act as the primary agents of reducing harm, empowering themselves to share information and support others.

Recognizing

Poverty, class, racism, social isolation, past trauma, sex-based discrimination and other social inequalities affect people’s vulnerability to and capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm.

Realizing

Harm reduction does not attempt to minimize or ignore the real and tragic harm and danger associated with licit and illicit drug use.

Fentanyl is dangerous — 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine — and present in more drugs than ever before. Nearly one-third of fatal overdoses in Maryland in 2018 involved fentanyl. Whatever drugs you may be using, take the following precautions to reduce your risk of overdose.

• Use drugs slowly, or less of them. If your drug is mixed with fentanyl, you could overdose before you’re finished injecting the dose. Instead, inject just a little bit of the drug and wait 20 seconds to see how strong it is. You may want to consider not using it. Please visit GoSlow.org for additional information.
• Try snorting or smoking the drug first, instead of injecting it. It’s less risky. However, you can still overdose by snorting or smoking, especially with fentanyl, so start slow.
• Space your doses. Spread them out, with time between each. Fentanyl affects everyone differently, depending on dose and tolerance. It might not hit you as fast as you think.
• Don’t use alone. If you are alone, have someone check on you. That way, if you do overdose, someone can intervene.
• If you’re using in a group, stagger your use with other people. Make sure someone is alert and that at least one person carries Narcan®, so it can be given quickly to anyone who overdoses.
• Always have Narcan on hand. Be sure you know the signs of an overdose and be prepared to administer or self-administer Narcan, no matter what drug you or someone else is using.
• Listen to your body. Be sure you eat, hydrate and rest as much as possible. Your overall state of health impacts your risk of overdose.

A simple 15-second test can tell you whether drugs contain deadly fentanyl.

1. Add sterile water to your empty baggie or the cooker you just prepped; mix well.
2. Dip the test strip into the water and hold for 15 seconds.
3. Place the test strip aside on a sterile surface.
4. One line means positive; two lines means negative.

View this video for complete instructions