Honors Projects

Abstract

Substance use disorders (SUDs) present a major global public health crisis. An estimated 46.3 million individuals are affected in the United States, with only a small fraction receiving any form of treatment. While abstinence-based models have historically dominated addiction treatment methods, harm reduction approaches have emerged as evidence-based alternatives that reduce overdose mortality, improve treatment engagement, and decrease the transmission of infectious diseases. Despite strong empirical support harm reduction interventions continue to face significant social, political, and structural resistance. These harm reduction interventions include supervised consumption sites, overdose prevention centers, medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, and drug checking technologies. This resistance is largely driven by stigma and misconceptions that such services enable drug use or increase crime despite research contradicting these claims. This study employs a qualitative systematic literature review, to examine the effectiveness of harm reduction strategies and the role of stigma and structural barriers in limiting their implementation and their utilization. Findings are synthesized across overdose outcomes, treatment engagement, cost-effectiveness, and community impacts, alongside analyses of stigma, policy resistance, and healthcare access barriers. The study highlights harm reduction as a highly effective public health approach while demonstrating that stigma remains a central barrier to its expansion and impact. Addressing these structural and social barriers is essential to improving treatment access, reducing overdose mortality, and strengthening public health responses to the ongoing overdose crisis.

Department

Honors Program

Major

Media and Communications

First Advisor

Dr. Robert Alexander

First Advisor Department

Political Science

Second Advisor

Thomas Mowen

Second Advisor Department

Sociology

Publication Date

Spring 4-27-2026

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