Discover what
Mainline
stands for

Mainline focuses on preventing or reducing harm from drug use. We stand for a pragmatic approach that does not condemn drug use. Quitting is never a prerequisite for support. Mainline fights the stigma surrounding drug use.

Find out how our passionate team is working for the health and rights of people who use drugs through outreach work, trainings, harm reduction interventions, a magazine and more.

Our vision

Drug use is a prevalent reality across the globe. People who use drugs have the same universal rights as any other human being. However, the consequence of international prohibition on certain substances is that people who use drugs are marginalised, discriminated against and in many countries also criminalised. Mainline stands up for the rights and health of people who use drugs.

Our mission

Mainline’s mission is to improve the health and social status of people who use drugs. Always with respect for each individual’s personal choices and potential. The main goal is not to reduce drug use per se, but to promote overall well-being.

Our target group

Mainline focuses particularly on people who use drugs, are on the margins of society and/or often face significant health risks. Often, related to drug use, they experience problems in various areas of life such as work and housing.

Mainline has three
primary objectives

Advocating for the health and social status of people who use(d) drugs

Improving the availability and quality of support services for people who use drugs, with a focus on harm reduction

Promoting harm reduction as a humane and science-based approach

Our
focal points

Harm reduction is the reduction of (health) damage caused by drug use. Primarily for the people who use, but also for their environment and society as a whole. Mainline is committed to interventions such as drug testing services, information, needle exchange, drug consumption rooms, opiate provision, HIV care, testing and treatment of infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and C and STIs, housing first projects, and overdose prevention. Such harm reduction interventions allow people to take back control over their use and their lives within frameworks that are feasible for them.

Mainline’s guiding principle is that every individual is entitled to care, support and compassion, regardless of their lifestyle and choices. While respecting the autonomy of people who use drugs, we provide tools and information to improve health and quality of life. This approach creates an inclusive, empathetic environment where people feel heard, understood and respected.

The perceptions, motivations and lifestyles of people who use drugs are the starting point of Mainline’s operations. This principle of meaningful involvement is crucial in harm reduction and includes people who use drugs in an accessible way in a collective effort to reduce harm from drug use.

Mainline stresses the importance of a safe political and social environment. The World Health Organisation (WHO) calls this an “enabling environment”. In the context of people who use drugs, this refers to creating policies and conditions that promote the health and well-being of people who use drugs without stigmatising or criminalising them, while at the same time reducing the harmful effects of drug use. Mainline fights for the legal status of people who use drugs.

Mainline's core values

Scientifically based – rational

People-oriented – with compassion

Authentic – creative and self-willed