MAPS Bulletin: Volume XXXIII Number 3 • 2023
6 Dec 2023
Why You Should Look for Harm Reduction Services at the Next Psychedelic Science – and at Every Conference
By Stefanie Jones, onsite harm reduction services coordinator for PS2023
People might not be accustomed to thinking of professional conferences as places where harm reduction services are needed, but anytime people gather, there will inevitably be moments of celebration, exploration and/or pain and stress relief. And that means people are likely to turn to alcohol and other substances in those moments. Professional conferences need harm reduction in the same way we need access to those services at other events and indeed, in our daily lives.
If this is a new idea for you – don’t worry. It took me longer than it really should have to come to the same conclusion. After all, for six years (2007-2013), I was the main planner of the Drug Policy Alliance’s International Drug Policy Reform Conference, and I never thought about this need more than in passing. After that, while I was still at DPA, I started a program called Safer Partying, where the objective was to get festivals and nightlife spaces to integrate harm reduction services and communication. This is when the lightbulb finally went off: conferences aren’t that much different than festivals, maybe especially in the case of drug policy and psychedelics conferences.
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Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver showcased three Harm Reduction Partner organizations: Zendo Project, DanceSafe, and Fireside Project. Zendo Project, formerly of MAPS and now its own independent nonprofit, provided a space for emotional support for people undergoing difficult experiences, psychedelic or otherwise, as well as integration support. DanceSafe offered drug education, earplugs, and information on how to check your drugs. Fireside Project’s Psychedelic Peer Support Line was operational from 12 pm to 12 am Mountain time to provide emotional support via call or text for people using psychedelics, sitting with others using psychedelics, or integrating past experiences.
Of course, it’s not enough to simply have the services available. You have to make sure people know about them. To that end, a small flyer was placed in every conference bag that showed the location of where people could access the services that were onsite, as well as where First Aid was located. There was also a button within the conference app, “Wellness and Harm Reduction,” that shared information about the Harm Reduction Partners, their services, and locations. A few of the offsite after-parties also shared information, specifically about Fireside’s Psychedelic Peer Support Line.
Aside from safety, there’s another reason to have harm reduction services at a conference like Psychedelic Science: to give people the chance to see these services up close and in action. For many of us, we hear about harm reduction services and support them in principle, but may have very few opportunities to engage with them in person. At PS23, Zendo Project, DanceSafe, and Fireside Project were given booths in the exhibit hall and placed right near each other so that people would have the chance to talk to the people behind these amazing services and find ways to get involved.
“Of course, it’s not enough to simply have the services available. You have to make sure people know about them.”
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Were you one of the people who stopped by these booths? Or maybe you utilized the services yourself? Did you even know they were there? It can be a challenge to get the word out to 12,000+ people! I’d love to hear your experience, whatever it is.
Hopefully, when you attend your next Psychedelic Science or other professional conference, you’ll look for the harm reduction services onsite – and help spread the word about them to make all our meetings as safe and as fun as they possibly can be.
Stefanie Jones
Stefanie Jones is one of the United States’ leading advocates for a harm reduction approach to alcohol and other drug use in nightlife, festivals and events. Most recently, she served as Director of Outreach for Fireside Project, an organization that provides free emotional support via call or text to people using psychedelics or processing past use. During her 16-year career with the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), a national advocacy nonprofit working to end the drug war and promote drug policies centered in health, social and racial justice, she founded and ran the Safer Partying program as well as oversaw the creation of Safety First, the first comprehensive harm reduction-based drug education curriculum for high school students, now at Stanford Medicine’s REACH Lab. From 2007-2013, she produced four progressively larger iterations of DPA’s Reform Conference. She is currently freelance consulting as a harm reduction advocate and based in the Boston area.
