Harm Reduction as an Anarchist Practice‏

presented by the Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force

Friday December 2      Speakers Series Presentation

Harm Reduction as an Anarchist Practice: a user’s guide to capitalism
and addiction in North America    2 –4 pm. @ 410 Sherbourne Street,
3rd Floor Classroom

Presenter:  Christopher Smith

In spite of its origins as an illegal, clandestine, grassroots
activity that took place either outside or in defiant opposition to
state and legal authority, there is growing evidence to suggest that
harm reduction in North America has become sanitized and depoliticized
in its institutionalization as public health policy. Harm reduction
remains the most contested and controversial aspect of drug policy on
both sides of the Canada-US border, yet the institutionalization of
harm reduction in each national context demonstrates a series of stark
contrasts.  Arguing that the founding philosophy and spirit of the
harm reduction movement represents a fundamentally anarchist-inspired
form of practice, Christopher Smith considers tactics for reclaiming
and re-politicizing the future of harm reduction in North America.

Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at U Pennsylvania, Christopher’s
current research examines consumer involvement in the addiction and
mental health sectors, underground harm reduction interventions in
Canada and the US, and global drug user capacity building initiatives.
His forthcoming book, “ Addiction, Modernity and the City: A users’
guide to urban space” will be published in 2012