What if I told you one of the most powerful life philosophies I ever learned came from managing drug use at my 1990s raves and could be the key for a better world?
I was first introduced to the term Harm Reduction during my rave promoter days. It spoke to the idea that young people and drug use has been going on for time immemorial and there was no point trying to stop it or pretending it doesn’t happen.
What that looked like within the rave scene was that as a promoter I had paid medics walking around checking on people, places people could hang out and be looked after if they felt too out of it, and sometimes a paid ambulance was parked at our event all night (paid for by me, the promoter), ready to be dispatched at a moment’s notice instead of having to call 911 and waiting.
I also supported a Toronto Public Health initiative called TRIP (the Toronto Raver Info Project) which was a booth of volunteers that had information and guidance for “safer drug use” and “safer sex”.
Some of my critics would point to these things as evidence that raves were nothing but pits of drug use and should be banned. However, Harm Reduction acknowledged that there’s the way you want things to go, and the way things are actually going to go, and let’s pick a path where fewer people are actually harmed. Pretending that young people aren’t going to rebel, and do dangerous or reckless activities simply will never happen, so why not do your best to help reduce harm when they do?
It’s origins were from the 1980’s AIDS crisis, and the promotion of “safer sex” as opposed to the unrealistic abstinence advice.
I once learned of a City of Toronto initiative to give alcoholics three bottles of wine per day. When I first heard that I thought it was ridiculous, but later realized the Harm Reduction model meant that if we were giving homeless alcoholics wine, they weren’t robbing people to support their addiction.
This also comes up during the conversation around safe injection sites, giving addicts a place to use their drugs, as opposed to back alleys and public spaces where they could easily die.
Yes, it would be better if we lived in a world without drug addiction, AIDS, and young people messing around with drugs while they partied, but that isn’t the world we live in.
I use Harm Reduction as a guiding principle with other hard choices I have to make in my life. It helps me let go of unrealistic expectations of perfection and fantasy outcomes.
As my kids get older, and become elder teens, sometimes I have to let them make their own mistakes rather than be an authoritarian because the greater harm would be to risk my relationship with my children. I remind myself of what’s truly important to me, and let go of the rest.
I think about this when it comes to politics and voting. I will ask myself “Through the harm reduction lens, which political party and candidate will cause the least harm?” This makes it easier to vote for someone that may not reflect all of my views instead of clinging to some unrealistic perfection ideal and say something like “I can’t stomach voting for anyone”.
Frankly, I was motivated to write this article because I think the world would be a better place if more people adapted a Harm Reduction philosophy. It’s part of my rave legacy and a lesson for the world.
Harm Reduction is built-in compromise. An acknowledgement that perfection isn’t an achievable goal and things don’t go the way they might in our fantasies. So, with that being true, what choice would cause less harm?
Next time you are in a quandary, instead of trying to “win” or cling to a perfect outcome, instead try asking yourself what of the choices available might cause the least harm?
PS: The above was 100% written by me by hand. I tested it with an AI and asked for suggestions, and it had plenty to make the piece more “powerful”, but I felt my voice was lost. In the end I’m running the one I wrote without help, and I feel better for it.
