- Weeks after some punishing setbacks for the government
of Brazilian President Lula da Silva, with his Worker's Party losing three
of the flagship cities in the world for Harm Reduction policies toward
drug users (São Paulo, Porto Alegre, and Curitiba), the Lula administration
has finally decided to make the groundbreaking local policies go national.
-
- According to a report in today's Folha de São
Paulo (subscription only), Lula's government of has reached a "consensus"
to step forward into a bold new era of drug policy: decriminalizing the
drug user nationwide, and opening 250 safe drug use centers across the
country during the year 2005.
-
- Lula is expected to sign an executive decree on November
24, taking drug enforcement responsibilities away from police agencies,
and placing the problems of drug use under the jurisdiction of the Health
Ministry, which will be charged with supporting the safe drug-use centers
and make Harm Reduction - a policy to reduce the harms associated with
drug use - the law of the land.
-
- Here is an excerpt from today's report from Brazil's
largest daily newspaper:
-
- "Policy proposal considers drug consumption as a
public health problem, and no longer one for the police. The government
wants to create centers for drug use."
-
- "By Luciana Constantino and Luri Dantas Folha de
São Paulo - Brasília Bureau
-
- "After a series of internal disagreements about
drug policy, the federal government is preparing a realignment of national
policy to define drug consumption as a public health problem, and not one
for the police as it is today.
-
- "There will be a presidential order creating rules
for treating drug dependents, with emphasis on Harm Reduction..."
-
- To read more of the translation, and comment on this
exciting new development, head toward The Narcosphere:
-
- http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2004/11/15/94326/676
-
- From somewhere in a country called América,
-
- Al Giordano Publisher The Narco News Bulletin http://www.narconews.com/
new email: narconews@gmail.com
|
