The problem of substance abuse is as ancient as the world itself. Perhaps the first drug addicts were Adam and Eve, who, eating the apple of Good and Evil, sought a greater wellbeing forbidden to humankind, paying the rest of their lives for this desire for omnipotence. In every period and in every culture, man has sought relief for his suffering through recourse to the use of substances foreign to his being, those with the capacity change him and to bring him pleasure.
At the end of the 2Oth century drug addiction is a problem for all nations on all continents, and the consumption of all drugs, be they legal or illegal, represents a massive attack on health in developing, as well as developed, countries. All the countries of Europe are involved in the phenomenon, and the rapid changes in the institutions of Eastern Europe cause us to believe that it will be in just these countries in the coming years that a huge invasion of illegal drugs will arrive, searching always for new markets and new profits.
Faced with the extent of this problem, no government can claim to have the winning card in hand. Official government attitudes toward intervention range from a more or less efficient repression of the traffic to a variable attitude regarding drug users, from tolerance and permissiveness to, repressive measures and even incarceration European public opinion also oscillates between the two extremes: the request to liberalize every drug in order to combat the black market, or at least to assure drug addicts of a free supply of the substance which they need, reducing thus the criminality inevitably connected to the high costs imposed by drug traffickers; and, on the other hand, a punitive policy in regards to one who is believed more a delinquent who attacks the rules of a civil society than a sick person.
In addition to government and official institutions, there exist in the sector of therapy and recovery of drug addicts non-governmental organisazions, often set up by ex-addicts or by extraordinary, charismatic personalities capable of mobilizing that additional spirit and energy which cannot be expected within a normal official rapport. Among those non-governmental organisations there is also space for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent which enjoy the confidence of the marginalized due to their independence, which allows them to be identified as “friendly” organisations, uncompromised by political power or by the repressive apparatus of the State. Although the first recommendation of the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent regarding drug addiction goes back to the 1920’s, in the last few years the Federation as well as the National Societies have intensified their presence in this sector.
A permanent group of experts from the Federation, meeting 10 times in the last 12 years, and two world Congresses, in Norway and in Spain. have outlined all the possible fields of action of the Red Cross regarding the drug problem, sectors which range from prevention to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. At the same time, some European Societies, particularly those overlooking the Mediterranean, along with the Scandinavian countries, have begun to manage anti-drug activities, either in the first person or with the collaboration, sometimes even the financing, of the public authorities charged with this activity.
In homage to the country which is hosting this meeting in Incisa let us cite the experience of the Fondazione Villa Maraini, welcomed and supported by the ltalian Red Cross which, at its site in Rome, within the park called the “City of the Red Cross,” is host to a series of activities from therapy to “rehabilitation” in society, addressed to more than 400 young drug addicts who are assisted daily. For the importance of the budget, the number of centers open throughout the entire country, the excellent integration with government authorities, and for the results attained, let us also cite the anti-drug activities of the Spanish Red Cross which in these last 10 years have shown an extraordinary increase.
For the immediate future we await greater attention on the part of all the European Societies which must first convince themselves that the principle of Humanity finds in the area of the fight against drugs and assistance to drug addicts an excellent field of action. Even finding public funding for its own anti-drug commitment should not be difficult for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent in that governments, in the total absence of a possible winning strategy, will find it in their interest to make use of our Movement in a sector which is both dangerous and in which failure is the order of the day.
It is to be hoped that regarding their practical operating methods there will be an increase in the exchanging of information among the European Societies most committed, as we also hope that the Federation may always have among its personnel at least one expert In the fight against drugs, such as the staff-on-loan actually operating in Geneva for the too-brief period of 3 months, a period which we hope may be prolonged thanks in part to a contribution by one or more societies here present.
From committing youth to its own activities, which already in itself constitutes an example of anti-drug prevention, to the inclusion of methods of intervention in the case of overdose in First Aid courses both for the general population and for its own personnel; from the constitution of mobilized street units able to hook up with drug addicts in the same places where they live and use, to the opening of reception centers; from the institution of telephone hot-lines open 24 hours a day to the diffusion amongst drug addicts of information on health education for the prevention of HIV and hepatitis; from involving and committing ex-addicts in the very activities of organizing therapy centers using agonistic or antagonistic drugs; from group encounters with drug addicts in prison, to the beginning with these same addicts of an exchange of correspondence; from involving parents of drug addicts in its activities, to the offering to them of the use of the Red Cross’ headquarters to meet with each other and to set up self-help groups; from assisting addicts who are serum-positive or affected with AIDS with bureaucratic red-tape or with insurance matters, to the distribution of new syringes in exchange for used ones.. .these are only some of the initiatives that the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and in particular the European Societies, may undertake in order to confirm their role as auxiliaries to the public authorities. For new needs, new answers.