Public policies for people who use drugs: Strategies for the elimination of stigma and the promotion of human rights

https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2021.3041

Published 28 January 2021 Open Access


Antoniu Llort Suárez Doctor en Antropología Social y Cultural. Investigador, Medical Anthropology Research Center, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, España. image/svg+xml , Rafael Clua-García Doctor en Antropología Social y Cultural. Profesor asociado, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de Manresa, Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya, Manresa, España. image/svg+xml



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Keywords:

Public Health Policy, Harm Reduction, Social Stigma, Human Rights, Medical Anthropology

Abstract


This paper aims to provide theoretically informed practical proposals for the improvement of current drug policies, which are based on a biological model of disease and the criminalization of people who use drugs. First, we present alternatives to a biologically-oriented scientific conception centered around neuroscientific postulates, which support the idea that the etiology of addiction materializes in the brain, in favor of models based on the social sciences where context plays a relevant role in the description and management approaches regarding different uses of psychoactive substances. Second, epistemological models and proposals are offered from a practical perspective to sustain or implement policies and programs in accordance with a more sustainable approach based on the elimination of stigma and the promotion of political participation of people who use drugs. In short, drug policies based on human rights.


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