R Street’s Harm Reduction program aims for integrated harm reduction with tobacco, opioid and sexual behavior as central elements. We believe that “abstinence only” approaches to risky behaviors will not work on a population-wide basis. As such, we emphasize harm-reduction approaches that accept that harmful behavior may continue even as we seek to mitigate – if not eliminate – the harms involved. Read our theory of change about the future of integrated harm reduction.
Harm Reduction
The Issue
Publications
The Food and Drug Administration must consider public health when determining the future of e-cigarettes
Marc Hyden
America may soon witness a watershed moment with regard to the country’s strategy on reducing tobacco-related illnesses. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is racing to meet a September 9…
Utah Pushing For Nicotine Caps To “Protect Minors”
Steven Greenhut
From VapingPost:
“The proposed regulation would reduce the nicotine cap to 3 percent,” said Steven Greenhut, a resident senior fellow at the R Street Institute, in a blog post. “Currently,…
Olympic dream or COVID-19 nightmare?
Chelsea Boyd
Every four years the Summer Olympics brings the world together. Through boycotts and terrorist attacks, the Olympics have persisted, yielding only to World War I and World War II. Athletes, some…
If the opposite of addiction is connection, perhaps it is unsurprising that 2020 heralded yet another grim milestone—a 30 percent increase in overdose deaths. For those struggling with substance…
Utah nicotine caps derail harm reduction efforts
Steven Greenhut
When it comes to government regulation, it’s sometimes hard to get the details right. There’s often a one-way ratchet effect, as officials continually push for new and tougher standards—even…
Testimony from: Chelsea Boyd, Harm Reduction Policy Fellow, R Street Institute
In OPPOSITION to R384-415, “ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE SUBSTANCE STANDARDS.”
About Us
The R Street Institute is a…
Vaping, Police and Race
Chelsea Boyd & Jillian Snider
Last month, police in Ocean City, Md., tased, hog-tied and carried away a Black teenager for allegedly violating a vaping ban on the city’s boardwalk. A video of the incident quickly went viral…
Chair and members of the committee,
My name is Mazen Saleh and I am the interim director of integrated harm reduction policy for the R Street Institute (R Street), which is a nonprofit,…
On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the House Committee on Oversight and the Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy will hold a hearing on youth vaping.
From the very beginning, R Street’s…
The Biden administration has announced a plan to ban menthol cigarettes, though the specifics have yet to be articulated. Given the serious negative health consequences of combustible cigarettes, the…