The Issue Of Substance Abuse In Belgium

“You know you’re an addict when you misplace things … like a decade. ” - Paul Williams

There are naysayers, around the world, who believe that a global fight against illegal substances is unwinnable. The delegate of Belgium says emphatically that they are wrong. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) supports its Member States in addressing drug use, drug addiction and any other kind of abuse by implementing drug use prevention, interventions and providing drug dependence treatment and care services, especially for young adults, which are all based on evidence of scientific and ethical standards. Although UNODC was established in 1997, the institution has fallen short of its goal, to fight against substance abuse, despite cooperative efforts alongside the countries’ respective governments. The Kingdom of Belgium believes that in order to end substance abuse, the nations must make strict laws and regulations on the production and use of drugs. This includes heavy penalties and fines to a person who is caught dealing with illegal drugs.

This also includes education of the people on the careful use of drugs. The organization, monitoring, and implementation of prevention activities is, presently, in the hands of Belgium’s communities and regional governments which run under the central government. The Belgians were, once, such enthusiastic consumers of narcotics that even the pigeons were said to be on drugs due to its large-scale circulation. Various policies of drugs in Belgium were initiated to prevent this abuse. These are defined in two key policy documents, the Federal Drug Policy Note of 2001 and the Common Declaration of 2010. The Federal Drug Policy Note was adopted as a long-term policy document which focuses on both illicit and licit substances, including tobacco, alcohol and psychoactive medicines. The main goals of this document are the prevention and reduction of risks for the people who use drugs, including the society and environment as a whole; these goals are organized across three pillars: prevention and early intervention in drug consumption; harm reduction, treatment and reintegration; and enforcement.

The Common Declaration is a further statement that confirms the approach set out in the Federal Drug Policy Note. As such, it is the more up-to-date elaboration of the Belgian drug policy. Belgium is confident with its drug laws as it has been predicted that these laws will show a systematic decrease in the circulation and abuse of drugs in the near future. A range of treatment and services are available for citizens of all ages. General and mental health care, based on psychosocial interventions, is provided by centers for mental health, with a specialized focus on drug dependence. Recently, online rehabilitation and treatment interventions have also become available through online help and chat. Treatment consisting of stabilization, motivation and detoxification, and social reintegration is offered at hospital-based residential drug treatment units and specialized crisis intervention centers. Halfway houses in communities, employment rehabilitation programmes and day treatment in drug centers have already been created. Drug education has also been made a part of the primary school education.

Delegate of Belgium would like to add that more action is to be taken in the near future, such as educating the people about the consequences of substance abuse, effectively dealing with peer pressure among teenagers which also includes life pressure and domestic instability. There will also be special help be given to teenagers with mental illness as it goes hand in hand with substance abuse. the government will cooperate with the NGO’s and UNODC field offices’ in order to examine the various risk factors and help curb this problem at its origin which is primarily the teenage. This will be done by educating the children and adults on how to keep a well-balanced and stress-free life. ‘No country is perfect’, in order to reach near perfection, nations have to work together to eradicate the abuse of various substances. The Kingdom of Belgium is ever-ready to lend a helping hand in whatever form possible to other nations who are committed to ending substance abuse of all forms, especially among teenagers.