April 4, a sad day for drug research and harm reduction communities around the world with the news of Russell Newcombe’s death.
A leading figure in the field of harm reduction, the English psychologist and researcher has played an active role in informing and supporting harm reduction strategies on a global scale.
A researcher, lecturer, trainer and consultant on drug use and drug policy for around 40 years at various institutions and organizations around the world, his main areas of interest included the psychosocial effects of drugs, risk reduction and drug-related harm, discrimination against people. drug addicts, scientific evaluation of anti-drug strategies and services and new psychoactive substances.
On hearing the news, colleagues and friends paid tribute to Newcombe who “had an almost infinite knowledge of pharmaceutical systems, classifications and an understanding of the British history of harm reduction that was astonishing” published Talking Drugs, a British non-profit organization he had collaborated with over the years.
Newcombe’s contributions to harm reduction have had a lasting impact on communities around the world, helping shape policies and practices aimed at improving the lives of those struggling with substance abuse.
“The harm reduction movement began small, as a collaboration between people who use drugs and health officials in Europe, where pragmatism about drugs was less politically risky. (…) In Liverpool, England, in 1986, drug users and officials also came together to start needle exchanges and supply pharmaceutical heroin as a way to minimize the risks from street drugs,” Maia Szalavitz wrote for the New York Times. “To describe their philosophy, Russell Newcombe, a psychologist and drug addict, labeled it ‘harm reduction’ in 1987. The approach was quickly adopted by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government. As a result, Britain never saw the spread of HIV infections among drug addicts as occurred in the United States.”
His work was highly respected and admired in the field and he was a mentor to many. His legacy will surely continue to inspire new generations of harm reduction advocates.
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