Venezuela Creates New Treatment and Prevention System to Tackle Drug Abuse

The Venezuelan government has stepped up its fight against drug addiction this week, announcing the creation of a new National Addiction Treatment and Prevention System slated to combine the efforts of various public offices to root out the underpinning causes of drug abuse in the country.

The measure, which will be passed by presidential decree, will incorporate the work currently being carried out by different social programs and government agencies including the Mission Negra Hipolita, the National Anti-Narcotics Office, and the National Autonomous Institute for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (IDENA).

Rafael Sanchez, the President of the treatment and rehabilitation organization, Foundation Jose Felix Ribas, made the new initiative known to the public last Monday.

According to Sanchez, the government’s effort to treat addiction is part of a larger plan to combat narco-trafficking and other crimes linked to the proliferation of illicit substances in the country.

“We need the participation of many institutions to confront this plague because the crime indexes of the country are closely linked to the consumption of drugs”, he stated.

The new treatment and prevention system, in accordance with Venezuela’s constitutional Anti-Drug Law, will deal with dependencies in a holistic manner, taking into account the various social elements that encourage drug use.

“There are three levels of attention that are being formulated. Among them is the family orientation program and specialized centers in which there will be a multidisciplinary team of professionals in areas of psychology, psychiatry and medicine. There will also be a toxicology and laboratory team which will guarantee detoxification of the substance that is compromising the patient’s health”, Sanchez informed.

In addition to providing holistic attention to problems related to illegal drugs, the new system is also planning to deal with dependencies related to alcohol and tobacco as well as other behaviors such as addiction to telephones and sex. 

All treatment for individuals will be free of charge, something that will increase accessibility exponentially.   

“In Venezuela, treatment in a private clinic to resolve addiction, which lasts 28 days, costs 70 thousand bolivars ($15,500). A person that does not have this money will not be able to be cured”, Sanchez highlighted.

CUBA

In its efforts to provide free and quality treatment to those suffering from drug addiction, Venezuela is following the example of Cuba and will be only the second country in  Latin America to offer such a national system to its residents.

In preparation for the new system, Venezuelan specialists and Cuban experts organized a conference on addictions earlier this week where professionals from various disciplines had the opportunity to learn about treatment options and methods.

Many Venezuelans who battle with dependencies are currently sent to Cuba for treatment but, according to Sanchez, return to the South American country only to confront the same problems emanating from their social setting. 

“These people come back to Venezuela and return to the same environment or area which affects them. That’s why the relapse rate for the people who receive treatment [in Cuba] reaches 75 percent.  In Cuba, there are no drugs and in our country there exists drugs from other countries”, Sanchez pointed out.

Venezuela, although being declared free of the cultivation of illicit substances, has been victimized by its geographical proximity to Colombia, the largest producer of cocaine in the world.