Implementing compulsory drug addiction treatment regulations: Many problems remain!

(Baonghean) - Decree No. 221/2013/ND-CP on the application of administrative measures to send people to compulsory drug rehabilitation is considered a solid legal corridor for functional sectors in performing their duties. However, in the process of implementation, the preparation of records and sending people to compulsory drug rehabilitation as prescribed in Decree No. 221 in our province still faces difficulties and obstacles.

According to statistics, as of June 2015, the whole province currently has 7,293 drug addicts with management records, including 863 newly discovered drug addicts, 1,967 relapsed drug addicts, 5,884 drug addicts in the community and 1,163 subjects undergoing drug rehabilitation in the community and social labor education centers, along with 223 people in detention camps. There are 376 out of 480 communes and wards in 21 districts, cities and towns with drug addicts, including 141 communes and wards with drug hotspots, more than 66 drug hotspots, and 340 drug retail points.

The paradox is that while drug abuse in our province is becoming more and more complicated, and the number of addicts in society is increasing, social labor education centers do not have students to treat and detoxify.

The Social Work Education Center 1 located in Hung Loc Commune (Vinh City) used to receive over 200 students for drug rehabilitation each year. However, in 2014, the center only received 109 students. From the beginning of 2015 until now, the total number of people managed by the compulsory drug and voluntary drug users and Methadone treatment unit is only 101, of which 59 are being managed and treated in a centralized manner. Of these, only 2 students are subject to compulsory drug rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the number of staff and employees of the center is 48 people...

Drug addicts participate in production at Social Labor Education Center 2.

Similarly, the Social Labor Education Center 2 (located in Nghi Yen commune, Nghi Loc district) also has a serious shortage of students. In the first 6 months of 2013, the center only received 25 students (while the target was 140 students), of which only 9 students were in compulsory drug rehabilitation. With a scale of 300 students, but currently there are only 86 students, so the infrastructure invested with tens of billions of VND is very wasteful. The student housing area currently only uses one house, while the opposite area is almost empty. The lack of drug rehabilitation students has led to many other activities such as labor and vocational training being suspended. Previously, the center opened many vocational training classes combined with production such as bamboo and rattan weaving, mechanics, making votive paper... but due to lack of students, there is currently only one workshop producing votive paper.

At the Vinh City Social Labor Education Center, up to this point, there are only 30 drug addicts, most of whom are voluntary drug addicts. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan, Director of the center, said: “Before Decree 221 took effect, the city sent about 200 people to compulsory drug addiction treatment facilities each year. However, since the decree took effect, the city has only been able to send 3 cases to centralized drug addiction treatment.”

The reason is that since the beginning of 2014, the implementation of Decree No. 221/2013/ND-CP of the Government on the Regulations on the application of administrative measures to send drug addicts to compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities has encountered many difficulties. Previously, sending drug addicts to compulsory drug rehabilitation was under the authority of the district-level People's Committee. However, from January 1, 2014, Decree 221 took effect, accordingly, the authority in this field was transferred to the district-level People's Court. The current procedures for establishing drug addict management records must also go through many agencies such as the Commune Police, District Police, Department of Justice, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs and then to the district-level People's Court, so it takes a lot of time. The complexity of the procedures has led to difficulties for localities in sending drug addicts to compulsory rehabilitation. In 2014, the province only sent 159 people to compulsory drug rehabilitation centers, reaching 29% of the target. In 2015, the target was to send 600 people to compulsory drug rehabilitation, but by the end of June, only 130 people were subject to compulsory drug rehabilitation out of 782 students being managed at social labor education centers, reaching more than 16%.

Mr. Dao Xuan Luc, Head of the Provincial Department of Social Evils Prevention, said that the province currently has 8

The centers have the function of drug addiction treatment and post-treatment management, including 3 centers under the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, 1 center under the Provincial Youth Union and 4 centers under the People's Committee of Vinh City and the districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong. These centers have a scale of serving from 150 - 300 students. Therefore, the current number of only 782 students can be considered a great waste in terms of facilities and human resources. The reason is that most drug addicts do not have the consciousness to voluntarily undergo centralized drug addiction treatment, while sending them to compulsory drug addiction treatment faces many difficulties and obstacles due to the mechanism.

If the new procedure is followed correctly, the time to make a decision to send a person to rehabilitation is from 37 to 72 days (previously it was only 15 days). While waiting for the decision, addicts with permanent residence in the locality will be sent to their families for management, those with unknown residences must be sent to social facilities for management. However, localities do not have detention houses or specialized staff to handle drug withdrawal, so managing and detaining subjects is very difficult. In fact, there are many cases where, when the decision comes into effect, the addict has escaped. The reality is that in urban and delta localities - places with high educational levels and addicts who understand the law - the escape rate is much higher than in mountainous localities. The figure of 110/130 subjects of compulsory rehabilitation at the two social labor education centers in Que Phong and Tuong Duong districts confirms this reality.

Also according to the new regulation, the application for compulsory drug rehabilitation must include a document identifying the drug addict. Determining the addiction status is also difficult because Decree 221/ND-CP requires the testing authority to be a physician or doctor with a practice certificate and must have undergone a training course on drug rehabilitation in the community, while most physicians and doctors in localities do not meet this requirement. In addition, for drug addicts to quit, they must go through a relatively long process, requiring the cooperation of the community. Decree 221 stipulates that the time limit for applying the measure of compulsory drug rehabilitation is only 3 months. This is too short a period of time to be able to treat drug addiction.

Not only Nghe An, but the difficulties and shortcomings in implementing regulations on sending drug addicts to compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities in recent times have caused difficulties for all localities in the country. However, up to this point, the National Assembly and the Government have not yet carried out the replacement and amendment of regulations on handling drug addicts. This means that in the coming time, the management of drug addicts (which is showing signs of increasing) will continue to face many difficulties. This will be a major risk affecting the situation of social order and safety.

Minh Quan