Reviews

I’m impressed I finished such a long (for me) non fiction book 💪 aided by the many interesting people that are written about that make it really interesting. Perhaps a tad long nonetheless and quite American centric, but as I have learnt unfortunately America is a large influence for other country’s drug policy so it is relevant.

kmaio728's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

marieevigglad's review against another edition

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adventurous informative tense slow-paced

5.0

Point after point after point is made, with sources to back it and a personal touch. Maia Szalavitz has really outside herself. There were times when I was reading and i simply couldn’t believe my eyes (whether it be from outrage, shock or genuine joy). Harm reduction is everywhere, it just takes the right eye to see it.<3

cozycoe's review

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

ekunes's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

salesforce's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.25

To me, the real strength of this book isn't the history of harm reduction it weaves, but rather the compelling arguments it lays out for why harm reduction ought to be our primary framework for addressing all manner of societal problems. Szalavitz poses a number of arguments for this cause using a lot of empirical evidence and I've found my own views changing quite a bit because of that. In terms of an argumentative piece, it's well-reasoned, moderately presented, and reasonably straightforward to engage with, so I think it's a great text to interrogate even if you don't believe harm reduction is morally or empirically justified.

venturecrapitalism's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Would give it more than five stars if I could. So thankful to Maia for taking things sacred to me and other harm reductionists and putting them together in a thoughtful, radical, and grounded history. If you’ve never heard of harm reduction or you do it every day, there’s something in here for you.

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