Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1492490
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 FEBRUARY 2023 OPINION 11 Karen Mamo Drug use, checking, and human rights WHEN looking at Maltese society one may observe a dichotomous approach reserved for the acceptance or con- demnation of 'certain' drugs. In fact, the socially perceived harmless use and acceptance of a certain type of 'drug', such as alcohol, as opposed to 'other drug use', such as cocaine, continue to create a discordant relationship be- tween public health, human rights, and drug policy. Risks related to the health, social and legal well-being of the person are in part a reflection of the illegal envi- ronment in which these substances are manufactured and consumed. A lack of a regulated framework and the continued threat of incarceration for the non-violent offence of consuming, possessing, cultivating (manufacturing) or sharing drugs, exposes people to a number of 'unintended negative conse- quences'. Most worryingly, already socio-eco- nomic poor and marginalised com- munities are further pushed towards a vicious cycle of dis- crimination, dehu- manisation, and mis- treatment. One may therefore highlight how a pre- dominant moralistic and criminally based policy directly con- tributes to promote an environment of stigma and ignorance. Particularly, (i) how drugs interact with the body and mind, (ii) why people chose to use some drugs as opposed to other drugs, (iii) how problematic substance use devel- ops, and (iv) how best to assist people who experience problematic substance use. Furthermore, framing drug use and problematic drug use in society within a moralistic or threat-based philoso- phy, as opposed to a more compre- hensive human centred understanding, foments a fertile environment for dis- crimination and human rights abuses. ''All drug use presents benefits and risks, harm Reduction is here to mini- mise these risks" Originally linked with people who use intravenous drugs such as heroin and cocaine, Harm and Risk Reduction, has in recent years expanded to include all drugs, and all people who use drugs. Therefore, the establishment of safe consumption rooms and the availa- bility of safe injecting and smoking paraphernalia, the introduction of dif- ferent decriminalised models, and the non-commercial regulation of canna- bis (taking place closer to our Europe- an region), have been instrumental to promote the dignity and the rights of people who use drugs. Studies demonstrate that an indi- cation of potency and testing for un- wanted synthetic substances result in positive behavioural changes by opting to reduce intake or by discarding the synthetic drug altogether. Various or- ganisations such as Energy Control in Spain, DanceSafe in the USA, and The Loop in the UK, provide drug check- ing services and important educational outreach campaigns. Furthermore, they also offer an ear- ly warning system whereby the phar- macological com- position and picture of high potency or synthetic drugs are uploaded, shared, and categorised on various social me- dia platforms, thus warning users of po- tential risks. ''Such as seatbelt reduce fatal inju- ry for drivers, drug checking servic- es reduce the potential of overdose or the ingestion of unwanted substanc- es." Drug policies founded on human rights, and therefore inclusive of legis- lative and regulatory tools advancing full respect for the dignity and rights of people who use drugs, have been di- rectly linked with positive health and social outcomes. The availability of drug checking at music festivals across Europe, Austral- ia, and the Americas, is an example of a sound scientific practice and humane legislative response applied to the social phenomenon of recreational drug use. Although the checking of drugs in fes- tivals is not yet legal in Malta, it is not illegal to buy online a drug checking kit to test your own drugs. Watch out! Testing your friends' drugs could get you into trouble. so very certain of what God's message even is, to begin with? For instance: if God is so very 'dis- pleased' with us in Malta, at this pre- cise juncture in time… who's to say that it's because "we are discussing the partial decriminalisation of abortion" (and even then: only with the express purpose of "safeguard women's health and lives")? For all we know, it could just as eas- ily be the other way round: i.e., that God is 'displeased with us', yes… not because we're 'discussing abortion'; but because we're not doing anywhere near enough, to 'safeguard the health and lives of Maltese women' [who, un- less am I much mistaken, also qualify as 'God's creations'… even if he did create them out one of Adam's spare ribs.] I could go on, of course: if God's message really was 'against the intro- duction of abortion in Malta'… then, um, why is He only picking on Mal- ta? Other countries have 'introduced abortion', too, you know; and ALL of them have introduced it to a much greater degree, than we are discussing doing right now. And yet, I don't recall the entire European continent – or the United States, for that matter – being wiped out altogether, by a never-ending series of devastating natural calam- ities… each and every time one of those countries (or states) dared pass- ing legislation to 'introduce abortion', against God's will. And this forces us towards one of two possible conclusions. Either the God we are all expected to believe in, is 'the God of only the Maltese peo- ple' (to the exclusion of all nationali- ties and races)…. in which case, we'd also have to ask ourselves who (or what) is actually responsible for oth- er catastrophes, in other parts of the world… Or else, that God Himself is… well, something of a 'jerk', at the end of the day. (And that's putting it mildly: when human beings are directly re- sponsible for the deaths of over 22,000 people, in one fell swoop… we usu- ally tend to call them 'psychopathic mass-murderers'). This brings me to another example: much more serious this time, because it emanates from no less than the Catholic Church itself (which, as we all know, wields a LOT more power and influence, in this country, than Karen Zammit Boffa). Consider, for a moment, how News- book.com – a subsidiary of Beacon Media Group Ltd, a Church-owned media company – reported the Turkey earthquake last Wednesday (i.e., just two days after it actually happened): The headline was: 'In Turkey, a stat- ue of Our Lady remained intact during the earthquake'. And this is the first paragraph, in full: 'A statue of the Vir- gin Mary remained intact, after the ca- thedral it was in was destroyed by the earthquake. This Marian effigy was in the town of Alexandra, in the Turkish province of Hotkay'." It was only after imparting this huge- ly important nugget of information – i.e., that a 'lifeless piece of carved stone' happened to somehow survive the destruction that befell so much of the rest of the country – that News- book bothered adding, as an after- thought, that: "In these earthquakes that have struck Turkey and Syria, more than 11,000 people have so far lost their lives…" Now: leaving aside the sheer insen- sitivity, of a story that assigns more news-value to a 'Statue of Our Lady', than to the 'deaths of 11,000 human beings' (who have since grown to 22,000, and counting)… what does that tell us, about how the Catholic Church [Note: the same story was also carried on the international 'Catholic News Agency'] interprets the earth- quake itself? In all fairness: you cannot realistical- ly accuse the Church of 'propagating' the view, that God somehow 'sent us a message' by choosing to destroy most of Turkey (while sparing only one, sin- gle, solitary 'Holy Statue'). But you can certainly accuse the Catholic Church of 'encouraging' that same warped belief… by giving it more importance (and credence), than the human tragedy that is actually unfold- ing in that country, before our very eyes. Either way, however: the resulting message isn't exactly very flattering to- wards God Almighty Himself, is it? In fact, it almost makes you wonder what the Church – and its more over-zeal- ous advocates – even think they're trying to achieve, at all: by painting out their own God to be some kind of heartless, homicidal MONSTER… Karen Mamo is a Masters in Science in Conflict Resolution and Mediterranean Security, and in Addiction Studies Already socio- economic poor and marginalised communities are further pushed towards a vicious cycle of discrimination, dehumanisation, and mistreatment