“Service providers must understand Harm Reduction and HIV, but they must know something about the history and culture of the communities they are serving. This moves beyond cultural competence, and toward a kind of cultural respect and literacy.”

Charles Stephens (he/him),

The Counter Narrative Project

Facts and Recommendations

The project started with a survey of 182 providers across 24 states, including health educators, medical assistants, social workers, program directors, and clinicians. We followed up with several groups of Black and Latinx MSM to help us interpret some of the themes from our survey, taking a deeper dive into social context that is inextricably linked with drug use and stigma. The goal was to understand:

How informed providers are about crystal meth use among Black and Latino MSM from both the provider and client perspective

How confident they are in discussing crystal meth use and risks

What resources and tools are useful to raise awareness and support these discussions

The Impact of Crystal Meth on Black MSM

Harm reduction meets people where they are. To do this, we must strip back our attitude about harm reduction and ask how we can support the people we love who use crystal meth.

Check out these powerful webinars to better understand the impact of crystal meth on Black men who have sex with men.

Tools that Support Change

BEAM created a set of powerful and easy-to-use tools to help communities craft solutions to support the people they love who use drugs.

BEAM BluePrint Action Plan:

This simple yet powerful assessment tool helps you identify the challenges facing your community and the resources you need to grow.

BEAM Healing & Accountability Wheel:

This tool is designed to foster trust, promote shared decision-making, honor strengths, and create safety.

BEAM Community Care Support Plan:

This worksheet will help you create a plan to support someone who is in distress, needs every day care, or simply needs to maintain access to services.

Join the Harm Reduction Movement.

Get involved in the Harm Reduction movement.

Become a Harm Reduction Champion.