Testing It Up

China has been facing a critical eye from Western society after the execution of a British citizen just before the holidays and with the most recent information about its compulsory drug rehabilitation programs the critical eye is unlikely to shift. In China convicted drug users are required to complete at least 2 years in their drug rehab program, a span of time that is filled with forced labor, physical abuse and no drug treatment according to many who’ve completed the program many of whom say they are haunted by the experience.

As many as a half million Chinese citizens are held at these centers at any given time according to the United Nations. Trials, judges and appeals are extravagances that play no part in the way these police planned detention centers are run. Such centers are the country’s answer for serious drug issues that arose in the country in recent years are said to be little more than penal colonies where inmates are sent to factories and farms, denied basic medical care and fed substandard food . None of this suits the ideal situation for people trying to recover from addiction and can only cause further harm where substance abuse and other problems already have a foothold.

The information on these programs only becomes worse for those with existing medical conditions like AIDS and TB who are openly denied medical care. Reports of beatings and the use of cattle prods are also common. Drug users also deal with the stigma of their addiction in their daily lives as their national identification cards state this addiction, which makes applying for jobs and welfare benefits acts of futility. traveling often involves impromptu urine drug tests and the possibility of humiliation in front of colleagues as local police are made aware when such a user has checked into an area hotel.

Some officials in the country claim that this is what a transitional program looks like, citing the many needle exchanges and methadone clinics that have also come with the new program. Only time will tell if these programs will make changes that are targeted toward recovery over punishment.

Tags: abuse, China, drug rehab, drugs, strict, unfair

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