Removing difficulties for compulsory drug addiction treatment

"Unblocking" compulsory drug addiction treatment

To implement this regulation, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 35/2016/QD-UBND dated May 9, 2016 promulgating the Regulation on coordination in preparing records, reviewing, deciding on applying drug addiction treatment measures and organizing drug addiction treatment in Nghe An province.

Accordingly, the inter-sectoral Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Health, Justice, Finance, Police, People's Court, and People's Procuracy of Nghe An province issued Inter-sectoral Instruction No. 2171/HDLN dated September 3, 2019.

Teaching fine art carpentry to drug addicts at the Education - Labor - Social Center of Tuong Duong district. Photo courtesy

These two documents have “unblocked” the compulsory drug rehabilitation work in Nghe An. If in 2014 and 2015 the number of cases received at local courts could be “counted on the fingers”, in 2016 there were 700 cases that the Court issued a decision to send to compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities. Then, in 2017 there were 1,112 cases and in 2018 there were 1,034 cases.

In the process of sending drug addicts to compulsory drug rehabilitation, the work of preparing records, reviewing and deciding to apply compulsory drug rehabilitation measures was basically carried out correctly for the right subjects, with the consensus of the people as well as the treated person and their relatives and families.

The application of compulsory drug addiction treatment measures contributes significantly to the prevention and effective fight against drug trafficking, storage and use, maintaining social order and safety, and creating a favorable environment for socio-economic development in each locality and the whole province.

Confused about solutions to limit drug addicts from escaping the area

However, the process of preparing records, reviewing and deciding to apply compulsory drug addiction treatment measures to drug addicts also revealed limitations, difficulties and problems.

That is the situation where drug addicts avoid being sent to rehabilitation centers, so when the commune police identify the addict and make a record, the addict finds every way to be absent from the area.

To limit the escape of subjects from compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities, many localities, when preparing records, simultaneously place subjects in drug rehabilitation facilities before the Court's decision, regardless of whether the subject has a stable residence or not.

A trial at the People's Court of Tuong Duong district. Photo: Archive

For example, Tuong Duong district has applied this form to 611 subjects sent to compulsory drug rehabilitation from January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. And according to regulations, before the court makes a decision to send a subject to compulsory drug rehabilitation, a meeting must be held with the participation of the subject himself.

However, in Tuong Duong, these meetings were mostly absent from the subjects (because they were at drug rehabilitation facilities). This did not ensure the subjects' rights to be informed, to read records, to be provided with documents and evidence to prove that they did not violate, to explain and debate at the meeting...

In Quy Chau district, when the district People's Court issues a decision on compulsory drug rehabilitation, the subject is always present at the meeting. However, when implementing this regulation, Quy Chau district police must take the subject from the drug rehabilitation facility in Nghia Dan district to the Quy Chau district court headquarters to attend the meeting, and after the meeting, take him back to Nghia Dan, which is very costly and time-consuming.

Injection of detoxification drugs for synthetic drug addicts at Vinh City Labor and Social Affairs Center. Photo: Document

The Vinh City People's Court has another way of organizing meetings right at the drug rehabilitation facilities to have participants. However, according to the Vinh City People's Court, when judicial officers go to the drug rehabilitation facilities to organize meetings, it will reduce the dignity of judicial activities.

On the other hand, because the procedure for filing a case goes through many stages, the time the subject is kept at the rehabilitation facilities before the court's decision is made is quite long (20 - 35 days), thus creating a burden for the rehabilitation facilities in terms of food costs, medicine costs, clothes, necessary personal items, etc.

In many cases where the subject has been detained at a rehabilitation facility but the Court decides not to send him to a compulsory rehabilitation facility, handling responsibility is also a very complicated and sensitive issue.

Health examination and consultation for drug rehabilitation students at Phuc Son Social Labor and Education Center (Anh Son). Photo: Document

From the above shortcomings, it is required that the authorities continue to research to resolve and have more effective coordination; at the same time, promptly propose to the National Assembly to study and amend the process and procedures for preparing dossiers to propose applying administrative measures to send people to compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities in a simpler and faster way...