Midlands Harm Reductionist Amber Fraizer

Midlands Harm Reductionist Amber Fraizer

What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This conversation with Midlands harm reductionist and Certified Peer Support Specialist Amber Frazier gives a raw, grounded look at what real care for people who use drugs can look like. Amber shares how a harm reduction video in her early training shook her beliefs, especially coming from a 12‑step background where openly using methadone was treated as “a big no‑no”.

She talks honestly about both the help and trauma she experienced in 12‑step spaces, and how that pushed her to ask a simple question: if she deserved dignity as a methadone patient, why shouldn’t everyone who uses drugs get the same?

As she puts it, “Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.” You’ll hear about her work with The Courage Center, her statewide trainings, and her role coordinating naloxone and overdose prevention with South Carolina tribes through the Indian Affairs Commission.

Amber breaks down the harsh realities of methadone access – early-morning dosing, bottle recalls, work clashes and stigma – and calmly calls out systems that turn treatment into punishment: “Punitive policies do not belong in systems of care.” There’s also plenty on why methadone and other medications for opioid use disorder are more than “trading one drug for another”, and why a regulated safe supply makes far more sense than leaving people to an unpredictable street supply.

Through it all, Amber keeps it human, talking about grief, humour, being “neuro spicy”, and the relief of finally working in spaces where she doesn’t have to mask who she is. If you’re interested in harm reduction, fed up with moralising about drug use, or just curious what truly person‑centred support sounds like, this chat might give you a lot to think about. How could your own views on drugs and recovery shift if you started from dignity first?