With overdose as the leading cause of death for adults ages 18–45 in the U.S., the search for the solution to the drug crisis is becoming more pressing every day. With the “abstinence-only” method failing time and again, the harm reduction movement is quickly gaining momentum as a more realistic, and more impactful alternative. Harm reduction is the practice of minimizing risk amongst high risk behaviors—prioritizing education and informed decision-making over abstention and stigmatization. In the realm of drug use, it acknowledges that people will be consuming drugs, despite legal or ethical implications, and it empowers individuals to engage in safer use practices to mitigate the risk of harm surrounding drug use.
Harm reduction can take many shapes—including the accessibility of tools like Narcan (an opioid reversal medication), drug checking kits and fentanyl test strips, syringe service programs, and drug education and outreach initiatives. With many of these options implemented at large-scale events and other in-person locations, improving accessibility to harm reduction resources is one of the larger hurdles organizations are facing. However, a unique opportunity to utilize the budding technology of artificial intelligence (AI) may provide a new layer of reach for the harm reduction initiative, in a landscape where the need for exposure is higher than ever.
The Need for Harm Reduction Advancement
Many have considered the drug crisis to be an isolated problem; something only “drug addicts,” the homeless population, or the mentally ill face. While this has never been the case—drug addiction and overdose has historically permeated a wide variety of populations—the sheer numbers of drug-related fatalities visible over the last few years has made this impossible to ignore. The number of lives lost has grown to staggering amounts, with 107,000 drug-related deaths in 2023 alone (marking the first year since 2018 that numbers have dipped slightly).
With the rising prevalence of fentanyl and other adulterants being found in both recreational and illicit drugs, as well as in gray market and even clear market pharmaceuticals—this is a problem that affects everyone. College students, elderly populations, children taking ADHD medication, high schoolers experimenting with substances, and many others are at risk.
The outdated notion that ‘those who want to avoid injury or fatality due to drug use should simply avoid drugs altogether’ is clearly no longer an option. Harm reduction begins in a more accessible place, by meeting those who choose to consume drugs or medication where they’re at. It does not condemn drug use, instead, it offers safer practices to lower the level of risk present during any of these situations. However, with such a wide variety of individuals needing access to these resources, in-person locations and events only reach a small portion of this population.
Our first harm reduction organization, The Bunk Police, worked on the grounds at music festivals to distribute drug checking kits and spread information about harm reduction. We have expanded our mission into the nonprofit space with Transparency, where we intend to reach these individuals in a variety of in-person and online spaces.
In working in harm reduction over the years, we began to understand how common it was for individuals to prefer receiving harm reduction information and resources online. Most of our substance checking kits are sold online, and the educational pieces we post on our social media are some of our largest-reaching initiatives. This started to beg the question—what more could be done with the right technology in place?
Where AI and Harm Reduction Meet
In our quest to make these options more accessible and widely available, we began to explore AI tools like ChatGPT and Botpress. We realized that AI could be an excellent resource to bring our database of harm reduction knowledge—like substance reaction videos to accompany test kits, testing information and recommendations, and other harm reduction FAQs—to the hands of any individual. With this in mind, we developed the Transparency Harm Reduction App, utilizing both generative AI and natural language processing to create a harm reduction “guide” accessible from anywhere.
While our app is currently the only implementation of AI for harm reduction that we are aware of, we hope this will not remain the case. The future of AI and harm reduction is extremely promising, from helping expand upon at-home substance testing capabilities—like drug reaction identification—to pinpointing drug trends and rising adulterants in the online space that consumers should be aware of. AI could help individuals easily identify in-person harm reduction resources near them, such as syringe service programs, locations with free Narcan, and both brick and mortar and online test kit services. It could also help mail-in laboratories condense and distribute complex substance analysis results into user-friendly summaries, and even update public drug databases with analysis information to further understand the intricacies of the drug landscape.
From a broader perspective, expanding and strengthening services like Resistbot would be extremely relevant for harm reduction. Resistbot is an AI-driven chatbot that helps individuals contact state and federal government representatives to help create petitions and drive legislative change. With many harm reduction tools still existing in a legal gray area (due to antiquated drug paraphernalia laws), legislative restriction is one of the biggest hindrances to harm reduction aid. As AI improves, creating impactful petitions and driving harm reduction movements in this way would become more possible.
With proper training and help from harm reduction organizations and experts, AI could be harnessed and utilized to aid in overcoming the current obstacles for harm reduction progression. This would better educate the public and provide tools to engage with substances more safely, ultimately lowering drug-related fatalities.
The Possibility with AI
As the drug crisis becomes more visible, the need for a solution is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. While harm reduction initiatives both in-person and online are making an enormous impact, taking advantage of every technological promise is crucial.
In the near future, artificial intelligence will likely be implemented seamlessly into a number of facets of our everyday lives, and harm reduction is one where it may be particularly important. With AI changing the landscape of our education and information systems, using it to better equip the world with overdose prevention knowledge and safer use skills is a critical possibility—one we believe is worth working towards.
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