La dimensión sociopolítica de la reducción de daños y de riesgos en el Estado español

Theme: The socio-political dimension of risk and harm reduction strategies, as responsible for conceptual confusion and as limiting intervention practices. Objective: To analyse the technical and socio-political implications of harm and risk reduction. Methodology: Analysis of discourse and review of literature sources. Conclusions: Differentiating between risk and harm reduction is a peculiarity of the Spanish language resulting from the political need to differentiate actions aimed at the recreational consumer population from socially excluded consumers. The spread of HIV/AIDS brought about institutionalization of harm reduction in terms of health care, but the political dimension was relegated to a secondary role. Standardized risk reduction strategies are able to transform drug policies by recognizing prohibition as responsible for the most of the harm and to improve consumers’ quality of life through Defending Human Rights.