Marcy Jo lives in Los Angeles and says her neighborhood has gone downhill due to homeless encampments and open-air drug use. “I don’t understand why we can’t do a police sweep and get these people who are on drugs and put them in a secure facility and get them in rehab,” she says.

Maia Szalavitz, a former drug user and author of “Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction,” says, “We’ve spent the last hundred years arresting people for drug possession, and drug use has only worsened.”

Szalavitz is a proponent of harm reduction programs such as clean needle exchanges and safe consumption sites that are aimed at helping individuals with drug dependency to stay safer by reducing the risk of communicable diseases and death. Marcy Jo disagrees and says that’s “rewarding bad behavior.”

Watch Wednesday’s episode of Dr. Phil, “Harm Reduction: Safe Space for Addicts to Use,” to hear more from both sides of the argument. And later, hear from members of the Dr. Phil audience about their thoughts on harm reduction.

Check your local listing for airtimes.

WATCH: ‘This Is About Saving Lives,’ Says California Senator About Harm Reduction Programs For Drug Users

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