CHS Professor and Students Rally for Expansion in Harm Reduction Policies
Published February 23, 2023 By Darlene Muguiro UTEP College of Health Sciences
On February 15, 2023, a delegation of community members and activists from across the state of Texas, organized by the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, staged a rally at the State Capitol to draw attention to the overdose crisis and the need for expansion of harm reduction measures for people with substance use disorder (PWSUD). The Texas Harm Reduction Alliance is an Austin-based statewide nonprofit organization which aims to provide harm reduction policy advocacy and education. Among the hundreds of rally participants were Dr. Julia Lechuga, associate professor of public health, and Master of Public Health (MPH) students Mariah Alvarez, Sierra Galvan, and Jorge Puentes.
Lechuga, a board member for Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, said that she invited Alvarez, Galvan and Puentes to join her in the rally shortly after she was alerted to the effort. Lechuga is the faculty advisor for Students for Public Health (SPH), the department’s student group. Alvarez, Galvan and Puentes all hold leadership positions in SPH.
“I’ve been truly impressed by the SPH leadership in creating activities to promote students’ professional development,” she said. “I chose these students knowing that if I brought them, they would open the doors for the other MPH students to learn from their experience.”
Lechuga says that while many concepts within the hard reduction movement are controversial, such as providing condoms and clean needles to people with substance use disorder, the science indicates it works. “It returns humanity to people, giving them the opportunity to do something good for themselves. These individuals often internalize the stigma around substance use, and once they do something good for themselves, things turn around, and that’s when the healing begins.”
In addition to attending the rally, Lechuga, Alvarez, Galvan and Puentes had the opportunity to visit with Representative Joe Moody (El Paso representative to State Congress). Moody is the sponsor of HB 1403, which aims to expand harm-reduction initiatives in pilot counties across the state. Despite the group not having made an appointment prior to arriving in Austin, Moody agreed to meet.
“After telling his secretary how far we had come, he agreed to meet with us,” Lechuga explained. “He was very accommodating, and we appreciated that. We essentially told him that we are in the business of evidence-based practice, and that we could help develop fact sheets about the efficacy of harm reduction that he could then share with other legislators to help move the bill forward, and he agreed. This will now become a project for students in the SPH group.”
Puentes said the experience – his first time at a rally and in traveling to Austin – was truly emotional. He recalled many community members at the rally sharing stories about how the opioid epidemic impacted their lives, through the loss of beloved family members and friends. Hearing these stories firsthand led Puentes to consider a career in advocacy.
“Learning about how these people have not been able to ameliorate their conditions because of lack of accessibility to resources and services has provided me with a rage that makes me want to focus on advocacy and work to change our state, city, community and myself for the better,” he said. “I am so excited to learn what we will do next, and hopefully harm reduction will be more in the public conscience as a result of our efforts.”
Alvarez said that while she had prior exposure to harm reduction philosophies through her studies in the MPH program as well as attendance at El Paso Harm Reduction Alliance meetings, participating in the Texas Harm Reduction rally allowed her to see the issue in a different light and offered a unique opportunity for her development as a public health professional.
“In public health, a lot of the issues that could be resolved require developing policies that will create more support for public health efforts,” she said. “This experience showed me that we have a fighting chance to create change. Despite the emotions surrounding the event, we are able to recognize that the issue has never been about individuals who use substances but rather the substances themselves. And at this point in time, substance use may never cease to exist, but we can create better mental health programs, more harm reduction programs, decriminalize substance use, promote better education, take care of our youth, and keep fighting for a better and brighter tomorrow.”