The implementation of harm reduction programs has been met with much opposition from various sources within the public.
I hope to show whether harm reduction, because it does not require individuals to reduce their consumption of illicit substances or to abstain from illicit substance use, can be ethically justified. I review this consequentialist-deontological dilemma, and propose that a value-neutral position is more appropriate to properly acknowledge the inherent human rights of all people, including the most marginalized of society.