Harm reduction and drug use in young people

Abstract

The February 18 issue of The Lancet Psychiatry is devoted to substance use and young people. The issue's editorial, called “Drug Policy: Getting Over the 20th Century,” makes it clear that substance use disorders are a medical problem, and that criminalizing them has not worked in the almost century‐long history of prohibition in the United Kingdom and even longer in the United States. Citing a paper by Emily Stockings and colleagues in the issue, the editorial points out that “only weak evidence is available to show that tough sanctions reduce criminal offending in general or drug use in particular.”