New Toolkit Helps Community Pharmacies Launch Harm Reduction Services
A summary of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy's "Toolkit to Initiate Harm Reduction Services in Community Pharmacy Settings".
Nearly 97% of Americans live within 10 miles of a community pharmacy, making pharmacies among the most accessible healthcare touchpoints in the country. A new toolkit from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy aims to capitalize on that reach by giving pharmacy teams a practical roadmap for launching harm reduction services in their communities.
Published in February 2026 and led by student pharmacists Katherine Lowell and Emily Fukas, resident Alyssa Sim Khieu, PharmD, and Assistant Professor Joni Carroll, PharmD, TTS, the toolkit walks pharmacy teams through every stage of implementation: adopting a harm reduction philosophy, confronting stigma, training staff, sourcing supplies, marketing services to the community, and fitting new workflows into daily operations.
What's inside
The toolkit covers the essential components of pharmacy-based harm reduction, including naloxone distribution, fentanyl and xylazine test strips, sterile syringe access, and wound care supplies. It provides detailed kit contents with itemized costs — a safer injection kit, for example, can be assembled for roughly $11 per kit when supplies are purchased in bulk, while fentanyl and wound care kits come in under $3 each.
Beyond supplies, the toolkit compiles continuing education opportunities, screening tools (including the Opioid Risk Tool, DAST, PHQ, and GAD-7), and referral resources such as SAMHSA's National Helpline and FindTreatment.gov. It also includes ready-to-use marketing materials like bag tags and flyers that pharmacies can customize.
Addressing stigma head-on
A substantial portion of the toolkit is devoted to stigma — arguably the most persistent barrier to pharmacy-based harm reduction. The authors outline strategies for pharmacy teams, including self-evaluation of personal biases, adopting person-first language, and learning from people with lived experience. Resources like the Let's Talk Stigma podcast (a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University) and the Life Unites Us video series provide accessible entry points for team training.
Why this matters
The services described in this toolkit don't exist in a vacuum. Whether a pharmacy can provide naloxone, administer injectable buprenorphine, or order lab tests depends on state-level scope-of-practice laws — exactly the kind of jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction variation that PharmacyBridge tracks. As more pharmacies explore harm reduction, understanding what their state permits becomes essential. This toolkit gives teams the operational playbook; resources like PharmacyBridge help them understand the legal landscape.
Access the full toolkit:
Lowell K, Fukas E, Khieu AS, Carroll JC. Toolkit to Initiate Pharmacist-Led Harm Reduction Services in Community Pharmacy Settings. University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. February 2026.
