Criminalizing addiction prevents treatment.

Is the person an addict or a criminal? This is a controversial debate that has yet to receive a clear answer and there are various opinions about it. However, each approach and perspective towards an addicted individual, whether as a patient or a criminal, can have a different impact on their destiny.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), addiction is one of the four major human crises in the 21st century. This issue shows that addiction is not a simple and trivial matter, but a serious problem, and in a society where appropriate measures are not taken to address this phenomenon, one can expect a serious crisis to emerge.

For this reason, the attitude towards an addicted individual can have a significant and influential role not only in the addicted community but also in society as a whole. In Iran, there have been numerous discussions about whether addiction is a crime or a disease, and individuals have had different perspectives on this issue with a common goal of reducing this problem, but it seems that this debate has not resulted in a positive outcome so far.

A few days ago, Hossein Zabehi, the head of the Drug Enforcement Police, emphasized in a telephone conversation that in our view, an addict is a criminal, not a patient. He referred to the 1989 law in his explanation of this issue, which considers addicts as criminals if they commit a crime; in fact, in the new law, the legislator obliges the addict to quit addiction and if they do not quit and then commit a crime or fail to make an effort to quit after being sent to a treatment center, they will be considered a criminal and subject to punishment according to Article 16 of the law.

In fact, according to Zabhi’s statements, every addict has a limited opportunity to quit addiction, and if this is not done, they will be recognized as a confirmed addict. To investigate this issue, we went to Maryam Ramshat, a psychologist and university lecturer. You can read the details of this conversation below:

Why do they consider addicts as sick and what consequences can come from labeling them as criminals?

It is obvious that a criminal must be arrested, but is the person who is arrested placed in a rehabilitation program? Even if the arrest of addicts is intended for rehabilitation and care, there is no possibility of achieving this goal under any circumstances. In my opinion, considering addicts as criminals is a wrong approach that needs to change to viewing them as patients.

Years before the revolution, the consumption of traditional substances such as opium was very prevalent, and in addition, plans were made so that the individual was neither a criminal nor a patient from a legal and medical point of view, to the extent that even coupons were considered for the consumption of addicts. However, after a few years, especially in the early days of the revolution, the issue was raised that addicts and sellers were criminals and both were arrested.

Dealing with the phenomenon of drugs and addiction has gone through many trials and errors, and in order to understand why addicts are considered sick today, it is necessary to know the history of these encounters. In a period, the idea of ​​combating addiction was to prevent the supply of drugs; some even believed that we should have strict control over the eastern borders of our country.

In continuation, drug dealers were being arrested and the harshest punishments were imposed on these individuals. Many dealers were executed and even some people were arrested for drug consumption. This approach did not lead to any positive outcomes for society and only created fear during that period. This fear gradually disappeared and with the emergence of industrial drugs, more complex situations arose and the younger generation became more dependent on these types of substances.

The consumer of traditional materials suffered from atrophy and faced difficulties in their movements and daily tasks, but the consumer of industrial materials experiences a different state due to the impact of these materials on the brain, and their problems are very different from those of the consumer of traditional materials.

The world has learned through numerous trials and errors in dealing with the phenomenon of addiction and studying it in different societies that an addict is a sick person and treating them as criminals is not appropriate.

I have worked in this field for years and I have seen people who have a difficult life, are in bad social conditions, or are struggling with problems like financial issues, are more at risk of addiction. If anger is suppressed, it leads to depression and if it is expressed outwardly, it can lead to aggression. If you are unable to manage your anger, it can cause many problems for you and put you at risk of addiction. Today’s science tells us that turning to drugs is not necessarily for having a good time, recreation, or having a cool friend. The main reason is the person’s bad mood. When someone falls in love and cannot reach what they want, they may face psychological problems and sometimes turn to drugs. A person who goes down this path is not necessarily a negative person for society that we should consider them a criminal; in fact, the majority of people who become addicted have a lot of emotional issues, face personality disorders, and have problems like this, and they

If a person without any predisposing illness goes towards drug use, can they be considered sick after addiction?

Every addiction has a reason. In the past, for example, if someone was dealing with diabetes, they would try to overcome this disease by using Triac, but this action would eventually lead them to become addicted to drugs and this addiction, in addition to causing mental and psychological problems, would also disrupt their digestive system and even lead to heart diseases; in fact, what seemed to be a non-scientific way to control a disease, would eventually turn into a complication.

About depression, anger, or underlying mental disorders that lead a person towards addiction, drugs are a temporary and destructive fix that definitely harms the body of that individual.

Addiction is often a temporary escape from some disorders, but in reality, the person becomes involved in other severe disorders and manages one disorder with another. Drug addicts are highly dependent and this person is essentially involved in pathological addiction, regardless of other possible illnesses. For this reason, we see in long-term users that after a while they emphasize that they are disgusted with drugs, but they admit that they are unable to quit. This phrase “I can’t quit” is itself a pathological addiction.

Considering an addict as a criminal closes the path to treatment and is also dangerous for society. To control this problem, we must reduce the demand and if there are drugs in society, we must take action to prevent anyone from accessing them. A criminal is someone who profits from the addiction of others and essentially provides them with drugs.

Under no circumstances can an addicted person be considered a criminal?

The field of addiction is a disease, but we must also accept the reality that an addicted individual is not a positive member of society and the conditions they have, have made them susceptible to becoming a criminal. An addict, due to their severe dependence on drugs, can engage in dangerous actions and even harm others if they do not have access to drugs.

Therefore, an addicted person must take action to quit addiction and if they relapse, they can be considered a criminal; because continuing these conditions can turn them into a dangerous individual.

In addiction, there is a condition called “deprivation”. When the person does not have access to drugs, they are in a state of deprivation and in this state, if access to drugs is not provided, the person may even resort to crime.

Therefore, knowing someone is addicted does not mean considering them as a bad person. Addiction is a disease and usually false management has led to their current situation. The addicted person must take action to quit drugs, and this quitting process must be done in a special and principled manner. Considering them as criminals is wrong. The addicted person is actually on the path to becoming a criminal due to their circumstances, and in order to prevent this from happening, they must receive treatment.

You mentioned the necessity of quitting drugs, which must be done properly. Under what conditions should the treatment of addicts take place?

In order to reduce addiction in society, we must set aside our criminal mindset and see the addict as a person in need of treatment. We must address the underlying causes of addiction before anything else.

We do not pay enough attention to the mental health of our society. Physical illnesses are covered by various health insurances, but in our country, except for some special cases, individuals cannot use their insurance booklet for psychological counseling. We have not provided coverage for mental health under medical support and we must take action for this as soon as possible.

Deprived areas and outskirts of major cities are more at risk of addiction than anywhere else. We do not have a plan for these areas and every day the problem of addiction becomes more prominent. Economic poverty is the most important factor in young people’s inclination towards addiction. Mental health, attention to deprived areas, and alleviating economic poverty are the main ways to reduce the problem of addiction.

The society’s view towards addicts must change. After an addict goes through rehabilitation, they should be able to return to their normal pre-addiction life. Unfortunately, they often face problems such as unemployment after treatment because no one is willing to hire them. In my opinion, the main issue is that we should encourage addicts to quit their addiction and, more importantly, they should not be abandoned after quitting because this can lead to relapse. Mental recovery is a crucial aspect. Today, with the use of certain medications, we can detoxify the body, but the person may still struggle with mental illness and it is necessary for them to undergo mental recovery as well. Until now, if there hasn’t been a criminal approach, there hasn’t been much difference. We take the addict to rehabilitation centers in any way possible, they are forced to quit after a few days, and then we let them go, and they end up returning because their mental recovery was not addressed and our approach was not effective.

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It should be noted that in order to investigate the issue of non-criminality of addicts, we approached a number of psychologists and psychiatrists who were not willing to discuss it. However, Azarakhsh Makari (psychiatrist) briefly stated: “Being recognized as a criminal after relapsing from addiction is not a new issue and for years, addicts have been identified as criminals in this way. However, the question of whether addiction is a crime or a disease is a detailed topic that cannot be addressed in a brief conversation.”

Another psychiatrist who did not want to be named also emphasized that addicts are sick under any circumstances, saying: “In addition to being fundamentally sick, a person may develop new disorders and illnesses after getting involved with drugs, depending on the substances they consume. Dealing with this person aggressively can force them to hide and in these situations, there is no way to treat them. Criminalizing addiction is an approach that was used years ago and because it was not effective, the label of criminal was removed and replaced with patient.”