Start with Safe: Opioids & The Ethics of Harm Reduction

Jesse Harvey, the founder of the Church of Safe Injection, gives out naloxone to anyone in need of it outside of his parked car near Kennedy Park in Lewiston, Maine. (Brianna Soukup / Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

Jesse Harvey describes himself as “in recovery.” He has been involuntarily committed five times for substance-abuse disorders—principally addictions to methamphetamine, alcohol, and tranquilizers. He has also used opioids, though he is not addicted to them. He tried to commit suicide before his third involuntary commitment. The treatment facility in Pennsylvania summarily discharged him onto the street with no follow-up plan. Just recently, Harvey relapsed again, was arrested, and checked himself into another treatment program.

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