RIO er stolte over å kunne bidra til arbeidet med posisjonspapirene til Drug Policy Futures og for å representere Recovered Users Network foran 17 FN-land og flere representanter fra internasjonalt sivilsamfunn. Posisjonspapiret på recovery finner dere her.

Landene som var representert:

Canada, Sveits, India, Korea, Kenya, Estland, New Zealand, Russland, Zambia, Sri Lanka, USA Kina
Singapore, Italia, Storbritannia, Namibia og Mexico.

Innlegget kan dere lese her:

Your excellences,
ladies and gentlemen,
friends and colleagues.

I am happy to present Drug Policy Future’s policy paper on recovery and social reintegration.

Speaking about recovery is something that I deeply enjoy. I used to be addicted to drugs and I have not been so for the last 14 years, which by now probably only means that I too, sadly and inevitably, am aging. Recovery has a personal meaning to me and I believe it is like this for all people that for various reasons have suffered from drug addiction. Recovery means something close to heart.

It is a personal process of change. A change of behaviour, a change in a way of thinking and also a change in a way of feeling. This change does not magically occur when you are, for whatever reason, abstinent from drugs. It begins the moment you start to imagine another way; another life.

Recovery is a state of change towards a more healthy, drug free life where individuals take responsibility for themselves.

It is about being able to, and acting to, achieving your potential.

And it is about hope. About seeing the person that is trapped in a cycle of drug misuse as a person with innate resources, not just some hopeless case, but an asset to his or her family, friends and society –and to assist in finding ways for the person to unlock the door from this prison-like state.

It is important to note that such a process does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in relation to other people around you, to your community. This is why we cannot talk about recovery without social reintegration.

Therefore, our vision for how drug treatment services should be delivered is based on the following principles:

first, recovery should be made the explicit aim of all services providing treatment and rehabilitation for people with problem drug use;

secondly, a range of appropriate treatment and rehabilitation services must be available at a local level – since different people with different circumstances inevitably need different routes to recovery; and

thirdly, treatment services must integrate effectively with a wider range of generic services to fully address the needs of people with problem drug use, not just their addiction

The Drug Policy Futures network urges all Member States to

• Secure that a coherent drug action plan is in place securing the continuum of treatment, recovery and social reintegration as a virtuous cycle
• Secure high capacity on treatment- and facilitate peer-support services
• Make sure users can choose the treatment that is right for them.
• Develop new approaches to changing patterns of drug use.
• Offer job opportunities and affordable housing
• Advocate for recovery and present recovery champions as living example of the success of recovery

Then I would like to add that debates on drug policy tends to end up in unfruitful discussions about whether the primary aim of treatment for people who use drugs should be harm reduction, or recovery. This dichotomy is counterproductive. Harm reduction and low threshold interventions can be instrumental in preventing mortality and morbidity, overdoses and spread of  infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, but also in reaching drug users populations and assisting them in finding their way toward recovery and abstinence from drugs.

Therefore, any drug strategy must incorporate recovery as the overarching principle. The needs and aspirations of the users must be placed at the core of all services, moving past unconstructive political debates –and providing hope that recovery is possible, even normal, for most people that at some point has struggled with drug addiction. And this we must never forget.

Thank you for your time