I was first introduced to the principles of harm reduction in 1917. Then, we called it secondary and tertiary prevention.
People change themselves.
Our role is not to block the process of natural recovery,' he used to say. As a young psychologist, I strongly opposed this view. We were trained to give people insight into their behaviour and, through therapy, we could bring about changes. If a drug user comes to you, he may come for your tablets, your coffee or because he likes to talk to your secretary and maybe, I repeat maybe. In the period 1977-1979, I learned a lot as an outreach worker.