The concept of harm reduction was formulated in 1972 in The Netherlands to influence Dutch policy on drug-related problems. Central to normalization is the observation that drugs have been a part of human society for centuries, and thus, their use should be managed rather than prohibited.
Normalization encourages drug users to target realistic health goals, set by the users themselves.
Abstinence is only one option. In the case of HIV transmission, harm reduction means providing access to clean needles, education about how to inject more safely, and information about other health-promoting measures. The latter views, most notably promoted in the United States, reject any and all illegal drug use, even while tolerating legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. There is growing evidence that harm reduction in the form of normalization is effective both in preventing and treating drug abuse and in preventing new HIV infections among injecting drug users. However, the ideological differences between normalization and deterrence have caused much controversy over the use of harm reduction as a primary strategy.