Friday, 26 June of 2020
The Catalan Federation of Drug Dependency (FCD), in conjunction with the Deputy Directorate General of Drug Dependency, has launched an observatory that warns about the stigma against people who use alcohol and/or drugs.
The Observatory seeks to raise awareness among the different spheres of professional care and citizens about the need to stop the stigmatisation of people who use drugs as well as the violation of their rights.
‘Do you have any decent user for the project?’
‘Sometimes I treat a person who consumes drugs as not very intelligent and I infantilise them the way I treat them’.
‘I decide for that person, I don't give them a voice or the ability to make decisions’.
‘Sometimes I forget that they are people who need help and I tend to judge them’.
These are just some of the comments shared by professionals who attend drug users. We often find that care provided by teams of professionals, services and public administrations to drug consumers, regardless of whether or not their consumption is problematic and/or that they may be drug-dependent, is still conditioned by prejudice and stigma. In addition to violating their rights to dignity and non-discrimination, this also leads these people to forbear from asking for the social and healthcare they may need.
This is why we must all guarantee that all care offered to them is attentive and appropriate, in line with their rights to attention and healthcare, regardless of their consumption patterns.
This is the reason why the Catalan Federation of Drug Dependency (FCD), with the support of the Deputy Directorate General of Drug Dependency of the Catalan Government, has launched the Observatori Alerta Estigma as a means of participation and a channel through which the person himself, other professionals and citizens can report discriminatory or offensive expressions or behaviours or others such expressive of prejudice and stigma on drug consumers.
The purpose of the Observatory on stigma and drugs is to learn more about users’ reality and to find ways to lower the stigma and protect the rights of people who use drugs, including their right to health and to life. Individual tracking is only conducted in cases where the person requests it, always respecting their right to confidentiality. Generally speaking, the notifications received are not complaints with legal standing but key information that can help us learn about areas for improvement; reorient and better adapt the awareness-raising, training activities, procedures and programmes run by the FCD and the Deputy Directorate General of Drug Dependency; or start new ones.
There are plans to draw up and publish an annual report which (anonymously) describes the reports received and the actions carried out to eliminate the stigma and improve the care offered to drug consumers.
The observatory was launched on 26 June as part of the international campaign ‘Support. Don’t Punish’ (http://supportdontpunish.org/) which seeks to promote better drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights.
It should be borne in mind that problematic drug consumption is not a personal choice but is generally an expression of personal vulnerability and disadvantaged social contexts. It is the outcome of exposure to a set of risk factors that are individual, psychosocial and environmental, which contribute to determining the likelihood that a specific person will or will not develop a problem related to drug consumption.
In this sense, we want to stress that it is essential to provide support for the implementation of drug policies based on public health and focused on people and the respect for human rights and to put an end to repressive policies based on control.
Link to the Observatori Alerta Estigma
More information on stigma on Canal Drogues
Stigma Commission - Catalan Federation of Drug Dependency (FCD)
Q de Festa!
Quality nights
www.qdefesta.cat
info@qdefesta.cat