Betty's Circle Outreach for Recovery and Harm Reduction

08/18/2025

August 18 – Safe Disposal of Needles

🌟 Theme: Protect the community, protect yourself.
💜 Fact of the Day: Proper needle disposal reduces the spread of infections and protects everyone.
📊 Stat: Needle exchange programs significantly decrease rates of HIV and Hepatitis C transmission.
🛠 Harm Reduction Tip: Use designated sharps containers and drop-off sites for disposal.
💌 Love & Light Message: Caring for yourself and your community is strength.
📍 Resources:
National: Harm Reduction Coalition –

National Harm Reduction Coalition works to increase access to evidence-based harm reduction strategies like overdose prevention and syringe access programs.

08/17/2025

Harm Reduction vs. Benefit Augmentation

Harm Reduction (Survive)

Focus: Prevent injury, illness, and death

Example: Naloxone to reverse overdoses

Example: Clean works to prevent infection

Example: Safer use education (don’t mix X + Y)

Message: “Stay alive, stay safe.”

Benefit Augmentation (Thrive)

Focus: Enhance the positive effects of use

Example: Drug checking for purity & dosing

Example: Guidance for set & setting to improve experience

Example: Info on pairings (like food, music, mindfulness)

Example: Respecting pleasure, connection, curiosity as valid

Message: “Enjoy, explore, and maximize safely.”

Together they say: Your life has value. Your joy has value. Safety + pleasure belong in the same conversation.

🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

08/17/2025

August 17 – The Role of Mental Health

🌟 Theme: Mind and body healing go hand in hand.
💜 Fact of the Day: Co-occurring mental health conditions increase overdose risk but are often untreated due to stigma.
📊 Stat: Approximately 50% of people with substance use disorders also experience mental health disorders.
🛠 Harm Reduction Tip: Seek integrated care that treats both mental health and substance use with compassion.
💌 Love & Light Message: Your mental health matters just as much as your physical health. Healing is possible.
📍 Resources:
National: NAMI –

NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

08/16/2025

August 16 – Narcan Training Saves Lives

🌟 Theme: Learn it. Share it. Save a life.
💜 Fact of the Day: Anyone can be trained to administer naloxone in minutes.
📊 Stat: Communities with widespread naloxone training have seen a 30-50% drop in overdose fatalities.
🛠 Harm Reduction Tip: Attend or host naloxone training. Teach friends, family, and community members.
💌 Love & Light Message: Knowledge is power, but sharing it is a superpower.
📍 Resources:
National: NEXT Distro –

NEXT Distro is an online and mail-based harm reduction platform designed to reduce drug overdose death and drug-related health issues in rural and suburban communities across the United States.

08/15/2025

Let's chat about ty pes of Abstinence

Abstinence isn’t just “I don’t use anymore.” It can look and feel very different depending on the person, the substance, and the recovery path.

1. Total Abstinence

No use of any mood- or mind-altering substances — alcohol, drugs, even ma*****na or certain prescriptions that can be misused.

Often the approach in 12-step programs like AA or NA.

Works well for people who feel “if I start, I can’t stop” or who’ve had cross-addiction issues.

2. Substance-Specific Abstinence

You quit the substance(s) that caused harm for you, but may still use others responsibly.

Example: Someone stops using opioids but still drinks socially.

This can be a stepping stone or a long-term choice, depending on the person’s needs.

3. Medically Assisted Abstinence

No use of illicit substances, but you may be on prescribed medication that supports recovery — like methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, or Antabuse.

Some call it "medication-assisted recovery" or "medication-supported recovery."

This is still abstinence from problematic use — and for many, it’s life-saving.

4. Gradual Abstinence

Tapering down over time with a plan, either medically supervised or self-directed.

Often part of a harm reduction approach — not everyone quits overnight, and that’s okay.

5. Behavioral Abstinence

For process addictions (gambling, s*x, food, etc.), it means abstaining from the specific behaviors that cause harm.

Sometimes paired with substance abstinence, sometimes its own focus.

Why ALL Pathways Matter

Recovery isn’t one-size-fits-all. When we only validate one type of abstinence, we:

Push people away from support.

Shame people who are in the “messy middle” of change.

Increase overdose risk because someone feels they “failed” and stop reaching out.

Recognizing all pathways:

Keeps doors open for people wherever they’re at.

Honors personal choice and medical needs.

Helps build trust — people know they can be honest without losing support.

Shows that recovery is about improving quality of life, not meeting someone else’s definition.

Tell me your thoughts on your abstinence approach?

08/15/2025

August...

💜 August is Overdose Awareness Month

I wish this was just another “awareness month.”
Like heart health, or pet adoption.
But it’s not.
It’s funerals. Empty chairs at the table. Kids growing up without parents. Parents burying their babies. Babies burying their parents.

It’s the texts that never get answered. The birthdays that never get celebrated. The voices you’ll never hear again.

And here’s the thing — it’s not just “drug addicts.”
It’s our brothers, sisters, neighbors, coworkers.
It’s people who were trying one last time to cope.
It’s people who took one pill they thought was safe.
It’s people in recovery who slipped one time.

I’m sick of the silence. Sick of the shame. Sick of pretending this isn’t an epidemic that touches all of us.

If you’ve lost someone, you’re not alone.
If you’re still here, your story matters.
If you’re struggling, your life is worth fighting for.

Let’s talk about it. Let’s say their names. Let’s keep carrying each other through.

💜 Harm reduction is love. Recovery is possible. You are not disposable.

If you use, don’t use alone. Test your stuff. Carry Narcan.
If you don’t use — carry Narcan anyway. You could save someone’s life.

Need someone? Call Never Use Alone: 800-484-3731
In crisis? Call or text 988
LGBTQ+ youth? The Trevor Project: 866-488-7386

We can’t bring them back.
But we can fight like hell to keep the rest of us here. We do recover. Out Loud. Together. 🫂

08/15/2025

August 15 – The Importance of Safe Spaces

🌟 Theme: A judgment-free zone saves lives.
💜 Fact of the Day: Safe spaces where people who use drugs feel respected improve health outcomes and encourage seeking help.
📊 Stat: Access to safe consumption spaces reduces overdose deaths by up to 35% in communities that have them.
🛠 Harm Reduction Tip: Create or find places that support you without stigma—whether it’s peer groups, clinics, or outreach programs.
💌 Love & Light Message: You deserve respect and kindness, always. Safe spaces honor that truth.
📍 Resources:
National: Harm Reduction Coalition –

National Harm Reduction Coalition works to increase access to evidence-based harm reduction strategies like overdose prevention and syringe access programs.

08/14/2025

🌿 7-OH: What It Is, Why People Use It, and How to Stay Safe

1. What is 7-OH?

Full name: 7-hydroxymitragynine

Where it comes from: It’s a natural chemical in the leaves of the kratom tree (Mitragyna speciosa).

In nature: Only a tiny amount is present in raw kratom leaves—usually less than 2%.

In products: Some companies make concentrated or lab-created 7-OH, which can be much stronger.

2. What does it do?

Works on the same brain receptors as opioid painkillers.

Potential effects: Pain relief, relaxation, mood lift, sedation.

Potency: Way stronger than natural kratom—research suggests 10–13 times stronger than morphine at those receptors.

Duration: Effects usually last a few hours.

3. Why do people use it?

To manage chronic pain without traditional opioids.

To reduce or replace more dangerous opioid use.

To help with withdrawal symptoms from opioids.

For some, it’s a harm reduction “middle ground”—safer than street opioids but still not risk-free.

4. What are the risks?

Tolerance & dependence: Your body can get used to it quickly.

Overdose risk: Especially with high-potency products or mixing with other depressants (alcohol, benzos).

Respiratory depression: Slowed breathing at high doses.

Withdrawal symptoms: Can happen if stopped suddenly after regular use.

Black market dangers: Unregulated products can be mislabeled, contaminated, or much stronger than claimed.

5. Harm reduction tips

✅ Know your source – buy from vendors who provide lab testing for purity and potency.
✅ Start low, go slow – especially if you’re new or switching from kratom leaf to extracts.
✅ Avoid mixing with alcohol, benzos, or other sedatives.
✅ Have naloxone (Narcan) nearby—yes, it works for 7-OH overdoses.
✅ Test for potency – if possible, use reagent tests or small “test doses” to gauge strength.
✅ Stay hydrated & nourished – dehydration can make side effects worse.

6. Why is it controversial right now?

The FDA wants to make 7-OH a Schedule I drug (same category as he**in).

Some states (like Florida) already banned it.

Advocates say banning it will push people toward deadlier drugs and fuel a dangerous black market.

The safest path is regulation, education, and testing—not prohibition.

7-OH is a powerful kratom alkaloid. In its natural, leaf-based form, it’s part of a plant used for centuries. In concentrated form, it’s much riskier.
Used with knowledge, caution, and support, it can be a harm reduction tool.
Used without those safeguards, it can be dangerous.

Stay informed. Stay safe. Stay alive. 💜

08/14/2025

Here’s the blunt truth — banning 7-OH outright might look like a public safety win on paper, but in practice it could backfire hard for harm reduction efforts and the very people it claims to protect.

Why an outright ban hurts more than it helps

1. Pushes people back to far riskier substances

Many people who use kratom or 7-OH are transitioning away from illicit opioids or trying to manage withdrawal without full abstinence.

Take it away suddenly, and some will return to he**in, fentanyl, or unregulated street pills—all far deadlier than regulated kratom derivatives.

2. Destroys a harm reduction “middle ground”

Harm reduction isn’t about telling people “just stop,” it’s about offering safer alternatives.

For certain people, especially those not ready for full abstinence, 7-OH has been a bridge—reducing their risk of overdose from more dangerous opioids.

3. Fuels a dangerous black market

When you ban a substance with existing demand, you don’t end demand—you just drive it underground.

Black market 7-OH will have unknown potency, contamination risks, and zero quality control, increasing overdose and poisoning rates.

4. Removes a tool from recovery self-management

Some people use 7-OH in microdoses to manage cravings, chronic pain, or mental health symptoms, especially when other meds have failed or aren’t accessible.

Removing it without providing equally accessible, affordable alternatives can destabilize recovery.

5. Worsens mistrust in public health

When people in recovery or active use see the government criminalizing a substance they feel is helping them, it erodes trust in health agencies.

That mistrust makes it harder to engage people in harm reduction services—they’ll assume “everything is out to get us.”

6. Criminalization hits vulnerable people hardest

Laws don’t just ban substances—they criminalize people.

Arrests, probation, and incarceration for possession can wreck housing stability, employment prospects, and family connections, which are already fragile for many with SUD.

The Harm Reduction Perspective

Instead of an outright ban:

Regulate 7-OH: set potency caps, test for contaminants, enforce accurate labeling.

Educate users and providers on safe dosing, interactions, and risks.

Integrate it into a larger spectrum of harm reduction tools—Naloxone, fentanyl test strips, syringe services, MOUD (like buprenorphine/methadone).

Because harm reduction isn’t about making every drug illegal—it’s about keeping people alive long enough to recover.

08/14/2025

August 14 – Post-Overdose Support

🌟 Theme: The moment after matters most.
💜 Fact of the Day: Surviving an overdose can be a turning point — but only if compassionate, immediate support is given.
📊 Stat: Within 48 hours of a non-fatal overdose, risk of another is highest — rapid outreach saves lives.
🛠 Harm Reduction Tip: Follow up with resources, not judgment, when someone survives an overdose.
💌 Love & Light Message: Survival is the first step. Connection is the second.
📍 Resources:
National: SAMHSA Helpline – 1-800-662-4357

08/14/2025

📚✏ Back to School Means Back to Looking Out for Our Kids ❤️

As the new school year kicks off, let’s make sure our kids have more than just pencils, notebooks, and lunchboxes—they deserve safe spaces, healthy coping tools, and trusted adults in their corner.

One amazing resource for parents, teachers, and youth leaders is NaturalHigh.org 🎯
They provide free evidence-based videos, lesson plans, and activities that inspire kids to find their own “natural high” instead of turning to drugs or alcohol. Great for classrooms, after-school programs, and even dinner table conversations.

🛠 Other great resources to keep everyone safe and thriving this year:

StopBullying.gov – Tips for preventing and addressing bullying both in person and online.

https://www.safe2saypa.org/ – Pennsylvania’s anonymous reporting system for threats, bullying, and safety concerns (check for your own state if outside PA).

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ – 24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ youth.

https://988lifeline.org/ – Call or text 988 for mental health support anytime.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ – Guides for parents on safe tech use, social media, and online safety.

✅ This year, let’s work together—parents, teachers, coaches, bus drivers, lunch staff, neighbors—to keep our kids feeling safe, supported, and seen. It truly does take a village.

💬 What’s one thing you’re doing this school year to help kids in your life feel safe and supported?