Co-edited by Professor Vanessa Gruben and Part-time Professor Chelsea Cox, First, Do Less Harm: Harm Reduction as a Principle of Law and Policy (University of Ottawa Press, 2025) brings together experts from law, social sciences, and frontline organizations to examine how different harm reduction approaches – strategies that aim to reduce the negative consequences associated with drug use – can lay the groundwork for policy development and legislation. The book explores case studies on opioid harm reduction, cannabis legalization, and evolving tobacco regulations, incorporating expert viewpoints with perspectives from individuals with direct lived experience, and providing insights into how different strategies have been implemented in Canada and beyond. From safe consumption sites and naloxone distribution to the complexities of legal cannabis markets and vaping regulations, First, Do Less Harm offers a timely and critical exploration of how policy can minimize harm while balancing public health and safety.
Among the many contributions from a diverse collection of authors, the book features a chapter on decriminalizing drug possession for personal use from Emeritus Professor Martha Jackman, as well as a chapter on the governance of recreational cannabis from Professor João Velloso, Véronique Fortin and Dean of the Civil Law Section, Marie-Eve Sylvestre.
Vanessa Gruben is the Director of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics. Her scholarship probes some of the most difficult contemporary legal and ethical issues related to health care, including assisted reproduction, harm reduction, organ donation and transplantation, and health care professional self-regulation. She is also co-editor of the 5th edition of Canada’s leading text on health law and policy in Canada, Canadian Health Law and Policy, co-edited with Joanna Erdman and Erin Nelson (LexisNexis, 2017). Chelsea Cox is a part-time Professor in the Common Law Section, and holds both a JD and a Master’s of Health Administration from Dalhousie University. Her research examines alternative regulatory models and evolving drug policy frameworks, with a focus on cannabis decriminalization, legalization, and policy development.
Learn more about First, Do Less Harm: Harm Reduction as a Principle of Law and Policy.