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Hacks About Weapons at Site

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People starting out in harm reduction sometimes have concerns about participants possessing weapons at site. But the reality of most participants’ lives is that certain weapons, especially knives, are essential for general life purposes rather than nefarious ones.

It’s therefore a burden to ask people not to carry these tools. Instead, many harm reduction organizations simply ask people to conceal them at site because they can be upsetting to others.

Featured Hacks

These featured hacks highlight creative, practical solutions from harm reduction leaders on the ground. From DIY tools to clever workarounds, each one reflects the ingenuity, care, and real-world experience that keeps this movement alive. 

Hacks for Empathetic Active Listening

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Once you have grounded yourself during an escalated situation, next engage in active listening with the person who is agitated. This can seem counterintuitive or difficult when you are dealing with somebody who is, for example, screaming at you, and it may feel like you’re rewarding them for being completely irrational. But it is key to getting them more centered and grounded so they’re less agitated and less likely to become a danger to themselves or others.
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Creating and Defining Community

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Over and over, harm reduction leaders interviewed for Space Hacks centered the creation of community as central to their efforts to create safe, humane harm reduction spaces services that are trauma-informed and minimize the potential for escalated situations.
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