Harm Reduction Policy Support among Students at Two U.S. Universities.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Political Science

Background:

• The United States faces a severe opioid overdose crisis.
• Harm reduction (HR) policies are linked to reduced overdose fatalities and communicable disease transmission.
• Legal frameworks for HR policies vary significantly across U.S. jurisdictions, and college student perspectives remain understudied despite their growing civic engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare college student support for various harm reduction policies.
• To investigate the association between demographic characteristics and support for HR policies among college students.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey data collected from undergraduate students at two large public universities (Midwest and Southeast) during Fall 2018/Spring 2019.
• Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were employed.
• A convenience sample of 1,263 respondents was analyzed.

Main Results:

• Good Samaritan laws (66%) and naloxone distribution (37.7%) received the highest support.
• Heroin maintenance treatment (18.4%) and heroin decriminalization (16.5%) had the lowest support.
• Students identifying as Democrat/liberal or less religious/spiritual showed greater support for HR policies compared to Republican/conservative or religious/spiritual students. Midwestern students were more supportive of syringe services programs.

Conclusions:

• Harm reduction education initiatives could be tailored to engage religious and/or Republican/conservative students due to their lower reported support.
• Good Samaritan policies may represent the most feasible HR policy to implement within college communities.