Community Substance Use Safety

Substance use varies significantly between and within communities. Substance use disorders (SUDs) have received a great amount of attention in the literature, although harmful or disordered use of substances occurs far less frequently in the general population. Globally, most community members do not engage in substance misuse/abuse and surprisingly, less is known about communities with substance use safety, in addition to understanding that some communities engage in safer substance-using practices than others. This chapter defines the community qualities and practices associated with safer substance use for sustainable community health. First, we briefly review the history of community safety-oriented approaches to background our discussion on current and emerging community substance use safety approaches. Next, we discuss the leading evidence-based community substance use safety approaches including community substance use literacy; harm minimization or reduction; in addition to caring communities and family strengthening. We then consider the influences of culture, health policies, and legislation for sustainable community substance use and the disciplines relevant to community substance use interventions. Finally, we conclude with a brief review of the research and practice initiatives aimed to support community substance use safety.