Advantages and Disadvantages of the Harm Reduction Approach

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Harm Reduction Approach
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
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Harm Reduction
The use of pharmacological therapy to manage opioid abuse has led to divisive and controversial opinions. Proponents of the pharmacological intervention, which involves the use of drugs such as Methadone and suboxone, postulate about benefits that people with chemical; dependency problems, especially opioid dependency, stand to gain. Critics of this intervention cite such treatments as counterproductive due to their downsides. This divided opinion about the management of opioid-related management puts the legitimacy of medication-assisted therapy involving the use of suboxone, Methadone, naltrexone, buprenorphine at center of focus. Now the role of drugs such as suboxone, Methadone, naltrexone, buprenorphine has been questioned. Does it reduce the harm associated with opioid addiction? Does it aggravate harm? Are these drugs needless? This paper argues that pharmacological intervention in managing opioid dependency, addiction, and symptoms may cause more harm or reduce such harm depending on the approach to using such medications.
Opioid-associated deaths constitute significant prevalence in U. S. These deaths occur due to increased misuse of prescription opioids combined with...