No matter how impressive the evidence of benefits, or how weak the evidence of serious side effects or how badly a strategy is needed, new harm reduction strategies are always greeted the same way: with relentless hostility. Debates about harm reduction always follow the same pattern. Hysterical fears are confidently asserted as if proven beyond doubt while potential benefits, often based on considerable research and experience, are dismissed or ignored. (See also: If we want to stop drug-related deaths at festivals, we need a new strategy)