Distributing Smoking Supplies as a Harm Reduction Strategy
Distributing smoking supplies (e.g., pipes, mouthpieces) has emerged as an important harm reduction strategy to prevent the harms of smoking and reach a broader community of people who use drugs (PWUD) than would be reached by distributing injection supplies (e.g., syringes) alone.
Local health departments (LHDs) play a critical role in providing and supporting harm reduction services, including smoking supplies distribution, and NACCHO supports LHDs by increasing buy-in, facilitating peer learning and engagement, and providing technical and capacity building assistance for harm reduction programs.
What LHDs need to know:
Compared to injection, smoking poses lower risk for HIV, viral hepatitis, and potentially overdose.
Distributing smoking supplies could facilitate reduced injection and consequently infectious diseases. Studies suggest people who inject drugs are interested in/open to reducing their injection and transitioning to smoking, especially if safer supplies are available.
Distributing safer smoking supplies reduces the risk of burns, injuries, and infectious disease by preventing people both from sharing supplies and using unsafe equipment. Sharing smoking supplies is associated with the spread of infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis C, tuberculosis, and COVID-19, and using unsafe equipment poses risk for injury.
Smoking and smoking-involved overdoses appear to be increasing, making it even more important to reach people who smoke—a population that might not visit SSPs that only offer injection supplies—with safe supplies, overdose prevention, and other services.
SSPs engage and build trust with PWUD, connecting them to a range of health and social services (e.g., STI testing, substance use treatment). By offering smoking supplies, SSPs can reach a broader, more diverse population of PWUD.
To learn more, check out our new brief, Distributing Smoking Supplies: A Strategy for SSPs to Reach New Communities and Improve Health Outcomes.
Below, you can learn more about NACCHO’s smoking supplies portfolio.
NACCHO's policy statements and communications to Congress and the administration related to harm reduction are found below. The organization's Board of Directors determines positions on public health issues. Learn how local health departments have used NACCHO's policy statements to influence local, state and federal policy.
NACCHO members participate actively in the organization's policy development process through workgroups. The HIV, STI, and Viral Hepatitis Workgroup contributes to the development and revision of all harm reduction–related policy statements. Learn more about this workgroup and apply to join here.
Access NACCHO’s Harm Reduction Policy Statement here.
Access other HIV, STI, hepatitis, and health equity related policy statements here.
| Webinar Title | Description | Recordings | Slides | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluating the Distribution of Smoking Supplies as a Harm Reduction Strategy | This webinar presents findings from a NACCHO project that funded six sites to evaluate their distribution of smoking supplies as a harm reduction strategy. | Recording | Slides | September 30, 2024 |
| Smoking Supplies: The Local Public Health Perspective on an Emerging Harm Reduction Strategy | This webinar shares the results of a survey NACCHO conducted to understand the implementation of smoking supplies. | Recording | Slides | July 31, 2023 |
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For questions about NACCHO's work regarding harm reduction, contact our harm reduction specialists below.