Harm reduction and social policy : should addicts be paid ?

FRANÇAIS :
Le but de cette intervention est de montrer que le versement d'un soutien financier aux personnes dépendantes de drogues est réducteur de risque, étant donné qu'un des principaux risques liés aux drogues est constitué des crimes et délits commis pour financer l'usage de drogue. Pour les auteurs, il ne faut pas s'arrêter au fait que l'argent de telles allocations sera utilisé en partie pour l'achat de drogue : il faut prendre en considération les risques pour la communauté toute entière, et pas seulement la consommation de drogue des bénéficiaires. La réduction des risques peut donc sortir du seul champ des politiques de lutte contre la drogue et être intégrée aux programmes de politique sociale, qui touchent aussi les usagers de drogue.
ENGLISH :
Harm reduction principles have not been applied to social policy programs that impact drug users. This paper considers wether income supports for the drug dependent poor might be harm reducing, given that a principal harm related to drug dependence is crime committed to finance drug use. The authors examine the political fate of the principal income support program in the US that targeted the drug dependent. Revelations that the money was being used in part for the purchase of drugs has led to a scaling back and tightening of the program. The authors suggest that the program might have been more effectively defended if attention had been paid to community harms rather than only on drug consumption by recipients. European and Australian governments provide income support which is no doubt also used for drug consumption but in the context of universalist income support programs they do not require a harm reduction defense. In conclusion, great potential for reducing drug-related harm may fall well outside the domain of targeted drug policy, whether of the supply reduction, demand reduction, or harm reduction variety. (From authors' abstract)