The prohibitionist policy on illegal drugs costs about a hundred billion dollars a year, with the aim of eliminating their use, distribution and production. It has become evident in recent years that this repressive approach not only fails to achieve its goals, but also produces serious collateral damage. In contrast to this hegemonic model, the harm and risk reduction approach raises and illuminates uncomfortable realities that can dismantle the double standards that surround the use of illegal and legal drugs. At the same time, contributions such as those from anthropology question what we understand as problematic drug use, and allow us to understand the nature of this behaviour, which is often labelled as pathological and socially stigmatised.