La Journée mondiale de la santé met en évidence le besoin de parler des politiques en matière de drogue

Les politiques actuelles qui mettent l'accent sur la prohibition plutôt que sur la santé publique renforcent le cercle vicieux de pauvreté et de mauvaise santé. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

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By Natasha Horsfield

Current drug policies which focus on prohibition over public health reinforce the vicious cycle of poverty and ill health by increasing the risk of health harms, and limiting access to medical care for people who use drugs. They also impact on entire communities by overly restricting access to essential medicines. In short, drug policy impacts heavily on health.

Although a number of countries take a public health approach to drug policy, many do not. The so called ‘war on drugs,’ which prioritizes the prohibition of illicit drug use, possession, cultivation, production and trafficking, has dominated since the mid-twentieth century. This is despite serious implications for public health.

The health of people who use drugs are the most obviously impacted by this zero-tolerance approach to drug policy, which restricts their access to medical care and support services for issues directly related to drug use and more generally. The criminalization of people who use drugs, and social stigma which results from this, acts as a barrier that often prevents people who use drugs from accessing health care for fear of legal punishment. Conversely it also results in people who use drugs sometimes being denied access to healthcare because of their status; in particular pregnant women who use drugs.

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