Carolina Pinzón Gómez is a PhD candidate in Psychology at Universidad de los Andes, focusing on harm reduction for cocaine users. She leads harm reduction initiatives for Colombia's Ministry of Health and directs drug policy research at CESED. She won the 2019 National Digital Journalism Prize.

Cocaine use represents a significant public health challenge globally, particularly in Latin America. This research combines qualitative insights and quantitative analysis to explore and measure protective behavioral strategies that help mitigate risks and harm among cocaine users.

The first phase of the study focused on identifying risk prevention and harm reduction behaviors among people who use snorted cocaine through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 experienced users from Latin America. These interviews revealed a variety of strategies employed to avoid or reduce risks associated with cocaine use, such as assessing substance quality, managing dosage, protecting administration routes, and minimizing legal and health risks. The findings provide valuable insights into the self-regulatory and care practices that users adopt to minimize harm.

Building on these qualitative findings, the second phase involved developing the Risk Prevention and Harm Reduction Strategies (RPHRS) Scale. A sample of 550 cocaine users participated in this study, completing surveys on protective behaviors, cocaine use, and its consequences. The RPHRS Scale, developed through principal component analysis, consists of 7 factors with 24 items, and demonstrates a negative association with both the frequency of cocaine consumption and its adverse effects. This scale provides a robust tool for future harm reduction interventions, allowing for the assessment of protective behaviors among Spanish-speaking cocaine users.

Together, these studies contribute to a deeper understanding of harm reduction practices in cocaine users and offer a validated instrument for measuring protective strategies, providing a foundation for targeted interventions in this high-risk population.