Description
- Abstract:
- Stigma relating to drug-dependent individuals is one of the most significant barriers to seeking treatment for addiction. Research suggests that many addicts in America have difficulty admitting the need for treatment for fear of social and legal persecution. That addiction and drug use is detrimental to health and well-being is perhaps universal. However, policy and the approach to prevent addiction have differed from nation to nation with varying levels of success This paper draws on qualitative, key-informant interviews conducted with stakeholders in city-wide management of addiction in Lisbon, Portugal, where a shift to decriminalization of drug use in 2001 with concurrent efforts to expand access to treatment and to decrease stigma related to drug use and addiction have had marked success in 1) reducing incidence and prevalence of addiction, 2) reducing the incidence and prevalence of diseases related to drug use and 3) reducing crime. Interviews were conducted with 30 informants including the Coordinator of Drug Treatment of Portugal, policy influencers, psychiatrists (in and out of addiction treatment centers), general practitioners, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, anthropologists, harm-reduction providers, and police officials. Themes that arose include the rationalization of decriminalization, the influence of stigma as a barrier to care, the general public's conceptualization of addiction as a disease, the role of police in combating addiction, and the failure of opponents' criticisms of decriminalization to materialize.
- Notes:
- Scholarly concentration: Global Health
- All rights reserved
Citation
Rego, Bryan, Golman, Roberta, and Xavier, Miguel,
"'Before They Came to Us With Bruises': An Anthropological Perspective on Portugal's Human Rights-Based Addiction Policy"
(2017).
Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:698127/
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Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium
The Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium is an annual event at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University that provides Year II medical students a venue to present their summer research in a poster format. Participation in the Symposium …...