Addiction is a term used to describe a disease affecting the brain which causes people to be psychologically or physically dependent on a substance such as alcohol or drugs. The risks that can arise from frequent use of substances can be very diverse, and the purpose of this paper is to discuss the risks associated with injection drug use and how harm reduction can be applied to this population. An injection drug is a substance that is injected directly into the bloodstream. People who are involved in the streets are exposed to many different risks as a result of this. Infectious diseases such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be contracted more easily if the equipment used to prepare and inject the drug is shared or not properly disposed of. A harm reduction plan is a treatment strategy for people with addiction that provides ways to use it safer so they don't cause as much harm as you might think. In harm reduction, you don't have to try to be abstinence or attend programming to get the help you need. The harm reduction approach to injection drug use includes minimizing the risks listed above; not requiring abstinence to access safe, judgement-free resources for addiction. A harm reduction approach is based on three main objectives: staying alive, maintaining one's health, and simply getting better (Bayles, 2014). Infectious Diseases and Injection Drug Use Human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus are the two infectious diseases most likely to be contracted by IDUs through unsafe practices (Høj, Minoyan, Artenie, Grebely, & Bruneau, 2018). As reported in the 2017 Surveillance Report on HIV in Canada, people who inject drugs account for 12.7% of male HIV infection rates and 27.6% of female HIV infection rates (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2017). Blood or bodily fluids are contaminated by both of these viruses, so injection drug use is a factor. A harm reduction approach is the distribution of clean equipment, such as needles and filters, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases or blood-borne illnesses. Decontaminating and safely disposing of equipment could also be required in order to eliminate the risk of contamination of persons who come into contact with it by mistake. Harm reduction involves ongoing, meaningful commitments to drug-using organizations and individuals with experience, past and present, who may be able to provide valuable insight. The stigma attached to drug abuse reduces the likelihood of people seeking treatment (Collins, 2019). It is possible for individuals utilizing harm-reduction approaches to recovery to have continuous access to low-threshold services to assist them in learning the skills they need to reduce or eliminate their substance use as well as gain empowerment and autonomy (Mancini, Hardiman, & Eversman, 2008). Opioid Overdose As a result of the current opioid crisis in Canada, harm reduction and resources such as supervised consumption sites have come to the forefront more recently. The National Report on Apparent Opioid- related Deaths in Canada estimates that over 12,800 deaths