A healthier community begins with saving lives
About Save Lives Oregon
We are dedicated to preventing overdose and restoring hope. We meet each person where they are and honor their desired path to health and safety.
Save Lives Oregon began in 2020, as fentanyl flooded the illicit market and COVID-19 devastated communities. Since then, we have grown to become a network of more than 380 community organizations working together across the state and Tribal communities to save lives and reduce the harms of drug use.
Through respectful, judgment-free connections with people who use drugs, we are reducing overdose, preventing infections, and creating healthier communities.
Our impact
724,419 Naloxone doses distributed
19K+ opioid overdose reversals reported
665+ schools equipped with opioid overdose reversal kits
380+ community agencies receiving harm reduction supplies
What is harm reduction?
Harm reduction is an evidence-based framework that people can use to reduce drug-related harm for themselves and their communities.
It’s rooted in the understanding that drug use is a complex issue — and the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to be healthy and safe.
Harm reduction recognizes that drug use is here to stay, yet people change their relationships with drug use all the time. Evidence shows that meeting individuals’ basic needs and supporting their personal goals, at their pace, is effective in reducing overdoses, preventing infectious disease and saving lives. This means with compassionate and non-judgmental care, people often choose safer use strategies, and — if desired — treatment.
Working at the intersection of hope, dignity and health
In Oregon, organizations have been practicing harm reduction since at least the 1980s, when Save Lives Oregon founding partner Outside In opened the state’s first syringe exchange. Now, thanks to decades of grassroots activism and a growing movement of people and organizations, harm reduction is saving lives and supporting healthy communities across the state.
Principles of harm reduction
Harm reduction and Save Lives Oregon are guided by core principles that center on health, justice, equity and autonomy:*
*Inspired by Principles of Harm Reduction from the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
Acceptance
Drug use is a reality in every community. We choose to work to minimize its harmful effects and engage people who are using drugs with compassion, empathy and respect.
Co-creation
People who use drugs are experts in their own lives. Their experience is essential in shaping the programs and policies that affect them and their communities.
Complexity
Substance use exists on a spectrum and is shaped by systemic factors like poverty, racism, trauma, and isolation. People’s relationships with drugs are complex and evolving.
Well-being
Success is defined by each person’s own health goals. We support their unique journey on their own terms, whether their goals are safer use or abstinence.
*Inspired by Principles of Harm Reduction from the National Harm Reduction Coalition.
6 harm reduction strategies and how they help
1 of 6: Prevent infection
What it is: Provide people who use drugs with supplies like wound care kits and new syringes.
How it helps: By reducing the use of old syringes and other drug use equipment, these supplies prevent the transmissions of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. They also help people who use drugs treat minor skin infections and wounds.
2 of 6: Prevent and reverse overdoses
What it is: Provide overdose reversal medication such as naloxone to people who use drugs.
How it helps: People who use drugs perform the most bystander overdose reversals. Providing them with naloxone and information about how to use it is an effective way to save lives.
3 of 6: Provide alternatives to injection
What it is: Give safer smoking supplies to people who use drugs.
How it helps: Providing supplies such as new pipes provides a safer alternative to injection. Smoking lowers the risk of wounds and infection.
4 of 6: Distribute personal care supplies
What it is: Give out supplies like toothpaste, toothbrushes, tampons and foot care supplies to people who use drugs. During COVID-19, this also includes personal protective products like masks.
How it works: People who use drugs may face challenges accessing items that are important for health and comfort. Making personal care items easily available supports quality of life, improves health and reduces the risk of COVID-19.
5 of 6: Support safe disposal of syringes
What it is: Give out collection boxes for disposing syringes safely.
How it works: When syringes end up in the garbage or on the ground, they can create an injury hazard. Collection boxes make it easier for people to dispose of syringes.
6 of 6: Increased use of medical and social services
What it is: Connecting people with harm reduction services can lead them to access other services, too.
How it works: The organizations providing harm reduction and those providing other essential services such as medical care and recovery support are often the same. By offering harm reduction services, these organizations can meet people where they are and begin to build relationships, often leading more people to access other services, too.
