We are a small but mighty collection of thinkers, dreamers, and lived-experience people who strive to see a more just and inclusive world.
Our story all began with a belief that research should be driven by the people most impacted by the research question.
Core Principles
Nothing About Us Without Us – Research must be led by and for the communities it seeks to serve.
Harm Reduction as Social Justice – We view harm reduction not just as a public health strategy, but as a movement for human rights and equity.
Transformative Research – Evidence should drive policy, but lived experience must shape the evidence.
Accountability to the Community – Our work is not just for publication but for real-world impact, ensuring those most affected by drug policy have the power to shape it.
Challenging Stigma & Structural Harm – We work to dismantle systems of oppression that criminalize and marginalize people who use drugs and other vulnerable populations.
Key Research Priorities
Community-Led Safety & Well-Being Strategies: Exploring how people who use drugs and sex workers define and implement their own harm reduction practices.
Alternatives to Criminalization: Investigating the impact of decriminalization, safer supply, and policy reforms.
Innovative Harm Reduction Interventions: Researching and advocating for interventions like drug-checking services, safe consumption sites, and peer-led outreach models.
Structural Barriers to Harm Reduction: Identifying and addressing legal, policy, and funding obstacles that prevent life-saving interventions.
Lived Experience & Policy Advocacy: Producing research that amplifies the expertise of those directly impacted by drug policies.
Meet the team
Dr. Beth Wiese
Co-founder, Chief Creative Officer
Beth M. Wiese is a neuroscientist, dedicated to harm reduction research that aims to influence future drug policy with novel evidence-based interventions that also advocates and empowers people who use drugs to feel safe and prevent fatal overdose. Her expertise as a scientist built on my prior lived experience navigating chaotic opioid dependency and survival sex work with training in neuroscience, pharmacology, psychology, philosophy, and the mechanisms of breathing. Her preclinical research investigated opioid/cannabinoid interactions on respiratory function, resulting in multiple first-author, peer-reviewed publications and awards. While co-leading a grassroots harm reduction non-profit she received her PhD from The University of Arizona. Dr. Wiese’s community-driven research is committed to contributing to a more just and equitable future for all peoples, specifically those who use drugs, engage in sex work, and have survived the systems of oppression masked in racism and the war on drugs.
Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer
Dr. Sarah Drzarte
Sarah E. Drzarte is an applied psychologist who has worked in behavioral health research for more than 10 years. Her work centers the expertise of people with lived/living experience and focuses on the individual- and community-level impacts of systemic policies and practices (primarily healthcare and criminal legal systems). She conducts community-driven research using both qualitative and quantitative methods that incorporate the social ecological model and critical legal theories in their design and execution. Dr. Drzartehas published in academic and professional journals and regularly disseminates relevant and timely research findings to policymakers and community partners.