Introduction
Doing drugs is a problem around the world which governments and International Institution like World Health Organization (OMS) have been looking for strategies to help people like children, pregnant women or prisoners, however, the problem remains and affect people from a varied age. The science data indicates that a quarter of a billion people or around 5% of the adult population have used drugs at least one in life and 29.5 millions people suffer from disorders cause by drug use[1].
The data collected on this issue in Colombia is concerning in 2016 the Observatory of Drugs in this country reported that alcohol consumption has raised additionally the drug abuse [2]. The Drugs Monitoring Center in 2017 provided a result which shows that the abuse increase not only for the raising number of addicts but also because of an expansion and diversification of the market itself. As in most of the countries marihuana is the commonest drug followed by to cocaine, bazuco, and ecstasy [3].
Colombia government has been working for people affected by this problem and the prevention of drug use in general, in fact, Colombia has many policies about this topic in different fields as promotion and prevention of health but a big problem is the budget and how it is spent. In one of these documentsthe Ministry of Health recognises the importance of the proper use of money for this kind of programmes with the idea of everybody having access to them thus getting better in order to decrease the prevalence and incidence of drug abuse in families, community and society [4].
The most important law is the number 1566 and it was written in 2012 by the Congress of the Republic of Colombia and its principal objective is to offer guidelinesfor:1) Integral attention to addicts; 2) Prevention of drugs use; 3) substance abuse [5]. The document references that the drug use is a public health issue and for this reason this policy recognizes that the abuse and addiction are diseases and need integral attention from the Government leading to different interventions for the population with a multidisciplinary team.
The State has a significant role in the prevention by means of education for avoiding contact with the drugs, as well as reducing the risk factors in every individual and within their environment. For addicted people the strategies are to decrease and finally quit the use of drugs with the following reincorporation of the individual into the society that means an integral rehabilitation through the interaction with a multidisciplinary team and budget availability for each step by step process.
Another health policy in Colombia Government that has many strategies for decreasing the drugs abuse is the Plan 2014-2020 in Health Promotion, Prevention and Intervention for Doing Drugs. This document focuses on health promotion and prevention and also on finding the way to a health environment at any age of the life [6]. However, studies show a worrying data, for example a research in Bogota reported the alcohol and tobacco are the most common drugs. In 2016 the problem increased in comparison with 2009, for instance, the use of marihuana increased from 2,3% to 4,1% in that time span [7].
The problem with these kind of drugs are huge, they can affect to anyone and the consequences affect not only the individual´s health since drugs change the behaviour as well as life prospect. For instance, doing drug has a direct relation to people who commit illegal acts. A reason why they violated the law many times is because they were under the influence of drugs. Colombia has many researches in jails across the country and the collected results are worrying. A report by Interior and Justice Ministry in 2008, informed that 30,5% of prisoners admitted to be under the effect of alcohol when they violated the law [8]. The addiction in those people is common and the issue persists and not only is affects their health but it also has a negative impact in the society.
Other researchers reported in 2005 that in a jail between 7.7% and 49% of the prisoners admitted that they had used drugs [9]. In another document the same year in Bogotá, Colombia is shown that 15% were polydrug addicts, 47% occasional consumer and 31% usual consumer [10]. There is much more evidence about the prisoners and their habitual use of drugs in jail in Colombia, however, the strategies for those people and how they can work for the society are not included in the health policies.
A research concluded that drug use for prisoners represents an issue in Colombia as well as around the world and it represents a threat for the re-socialization therefore if the Colombia Government doesn´t offer the correct treatment, these health policies aren´t enough [11]. Those kind of persons need a special treatment, new researches and the Government needs to be committed to understand what is the best way to find a solution.
It is clear that Colombia has several policies and all of them serve the same purpose of promotion and prevention of drugs use although the outcomes aren´t satisfactory. Another point that requires clarification in these polices is the intervention on the prisoners, the government´s understanding of the issue and find a solution offered in order to provide an integral treatment both in and out of jail finally finding the way of the re-socialization.
References
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2017) World Drug Report 2017, United Nations.
- Observatory of Drugs in Colombia (2016) Report drugs in Colombia. Ministry of Justice. Bogotá – Colombia.
- Colombia Government (2017) Colombia drug Report 2017.
- http://www.odc.gov.co/Portals/1/publicaciones/pdf/odc-libro-lanco/reporte_drogas_colombia_2017.pdf
- Congress the Republic of Colombia (2012) Law number 1566.
- Colombia Government (2014) National document, health, promotion, prevention, and treatment for doing drugs 2014 - 2021.
- The Municipally of Bogota (2016) Researcher of doing drugs in Bogotá Bogotá, D.C. 2016. Bogotá: LEGIS S.A.
- Interior and Justice of Colombia (2008) Relation between crime and drugs in Colombia.
- Ruiz AB (2015) Motivation extrinsic and intrinsic for doing drugs. Thesis.
- Ruiz J (2005) Relation between crime-drugs in prisoners. Bogotá.
- Castillo RL, Rangel Noriega K, Luzardo Briceño M, Gómez Muñoz N, Redondo Pacheco J (2017) Doing drugs before and then the prison. /fourteen prisons in Colombia. Rev colomb cienc soc 8: 27-47.
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