Belgian authorities, after several years of debate, decided to open special centers for drug addicts, where anyone who wishes can inject heroin for free. According to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the experiment will begin in the city of Liege, which, incidentally, was recently named the most crime-ridden city in Europe.
According to a government decree, free injections will be given to drug addicts here starting January 1, 2007. The mayor of Liege, Willy Demeyer, announced this decision the day before. However, injections are allowed only under strict medical supervision. For this purpose, special medical posts will be opened. There, drug addicts will be given injections of methadone, as well as methadone with heroin. Some doctors may offer the synthetic heroin substitute hydromorphone.
As Le Soir writes, the decision to open centers to help drug addicts was the result of heated and lengthy discussions that had continued in Liege since 1998. Proponents of the innovation say that such a radical measure will rid the city of street drug addiction, reduce the risk of AIDS and mortality among drug addicts. Opponents of the project insisted that, on the contrary, there would be even more drug addicts.
In 2002, the federal government and officials of the major cities of Antwerp and Brussels joined the discussion. Eventually, in 2004, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt gave Liege a carte blanche to organize a pilot project for this European country. After that, representatives of the municipal authorities of Liege began working on the free injection program.
By the end of 2006, the administration of Liege had finally developed a program for further action. The authorities decided to adopt the experience of Switzerland, where similar medical centers for helping drug addicts have long been operating. In October of this year, members of the Liege administration visited the Swiss city of Bienne, according to the newspaper De Standaard, after which they made the final decision to build similar centers in Liege. "All decisions have finally been agreed," the city mayor stated the day before. "Contradictions have been eliminated, and the administrative and medical provisions necessary for the program have been created and approved."
Along with the municipal level, the issue continues to be discussed at the federal level. As the newspaper Expatica writes, the Belgian Ministry of Health stated that it is "open to proposals for a program to combat drug addiction." Relevant research is being conducted there, with results to appear in early 2006. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice began developing the necessary documents. Next week, Belgian Justice Minister Ms. Laurette Onkelinx has been summoned to the country's parliament, where she will have to speak about upcoming amendments to the country's legislation.
It is worth noting that in Europe the idea of creating centers with free doses for drug addicts is becoming increasingly popular. Currently, any drug addict who wishes, albeit with a doctor's prescription, can get a clean syringe and a free dose in Switzerland, Holland, Spain, Great Britain, and Germany.
At the same time, in some of these countries, soft drugs such as marijuana were legalized. Moreover, experience shows that the number of drug addicts decreases significantly after the opening of such centers. For example, in Switzerland the number of drug addicts has almost halved, and the number of HIV-infected among them dropped by 35%. Along with helping drug addicts, authorities have toughened punishments for drug dealers. This year, in addition to Belgium, Canada joined the countries with controlled heroin use – in Vancouver the experiment began in February of this year.
In the United States, however, such a program has not received government support as unethical and potentially dangerous. Representatives of the Russian State Drug Control Service also express a similar attitude to such liberties.
Irina PETRAKOVA.
Газета.Ru