Episode 60 | The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd | “Harm Reduction Support From Across The Aisle”Episode 60 | The #RecoveryFirst Podcast with Mike Todd | “Harm Reduction Support From Across The Aisle”
The Recovery First Addiction Recovery Podcast by Freedom Recovery Services of Greenville
Mike Todd reflects on a conversation with a conservative friend about harm reduction, breaking down how syringe services and naloxone save lives and money. He also outlines efforts in South Carolina to strengthen recovery housing and ensure naloxone is available and understood in those settings.
11:47•17 Dec 2021
Harm Reduction Across the Aisle: Syringe Services, Naloxone and Recovery Housing
Episode Overview
- Harm reduction is more than the syringe itself; it includes naloxone, fentanyl strips, and compassionate human contact.
- Syringe services programmes can reduce overdose deaths and dramatically cut HIV and hepatitis C risks while saving public money.
- Many people distributing syringes are in long-term recovery and trained in peer support, offering dignity and information about treatment.
- Recovery housing has grown from informal shared living to an industry that now faces challenges and risks of exploitation.
- The South Carolina Recovery Housing Association is working to get naloxone into all recovery houses and train residents in its use.
“"What we have to do is educate on the action and the act of syringe exchange and harm reduction."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and other drugs, even when politics could easily get in the way? This conversation with host Mike Todd shows how harm reduction can bring people together "across the aisle" in South Carolina. Mike shares a recent Facebook chat with his old friend Mark, a "really conservative" Republican from Mullins, who questions how syringe service programmes actually reduce overdoses.
Mark accepts the benefits around HIV and hepatitis C, but asks, in plain terms, how "the syringe itself" cuts overdose deaths. That question pushes Mike to rethink the focus on the physical needle and shift attention to everything that happens around it. He walks through CDC numbers on syringe services and contrasts the cost of a seven-cent syringe with treatment costs of around $20,000 for HIV and roughly $100,000 for hepatitis C.
From a fiscally conservative angle, he points out, "that's a lot of money" on the taxpayer’s bill. But the real heart of the episode lies in the people behind the syringes. Mike stresses that many of those handing out supplies are in long-term recovery, trained in peer support, and offering naloxone, fentanyl test strips, dignity, and information about treatment.
As he puts it, people often see the syringe as "enabling", but "what we have to do is educate on the action and the act of syringe exchange and harm reduction." Later, the focus shifts to recovery housing in South Carolina and the South Carolina Recovery Housing Association’s push to get naloxone into all recovery houses, backed by grants and partner organisations. The episode blends policy, personal history, and practical solutions, all grounded in respect and honest dialogue.
If you’ve ever wondered whether harm reduction and recovery housing really make a difference, this conversation might have you rethinking your assumptions.
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