On the way back after home-leave my boss- Dutch policemen picked up a manual, published in Holland. Excerpt: 10 golden rules for mostly safe drug-abusing; how to make a solution; how to take a portion of drug; how to use a syringe for injection; an overdose; the schematic picture of human blood vessels with marked points, fit for heroin injections...

Shocking reading? I wish you could see faces of my colleagues- police officers, browsing this booklet. They were really dumbfounded and demanded the edition spoliation.. Meanwhile, this manual has been issued by the special request from UN Anti-AIDS Program and intended for the wide reading auditory...

Why it happened so, that, while our society penalizing abusers, blacklisting their names in special police registers, forcing school-pupils to listen lectures about fatal addiction, affrighting our teenagers with soonest sexual disability and shunless death before 50 (although nothing seems to be horrendous, when you are 15), in the same time, the enlightened Europe establishing philosophical and practical approach of harm reduction and publishing free booklets of this kind?

Just because they managed to realize, much earlier then we did, that un-repressive, scientifically approved, based on the every citizen and the whole society human rights defending approach is considerably more promising and fruitful, than segregation and forced treatment of abusers. According to statistics, 14% of prisons population in our country was prosecuted for crimes, directly linked with drugs. Every seventh domestic collegian...

The approach, conditionally called Harm reduction, involves the wide circle of measures, aimed on the progressive lasting improvement of social conditions and health of drug-abusers. Every positive step toward this way, even a very small one, is sizeable. An absolute recovery remains to be the top success of the program, but (lets be realistic) this is not the only possible positive result. I would like to repeat, the program is first of all aimed on the maximal reduction of harmful consequences for abusers and for society as well, especially in view of AIDS danger. According to specialists, in our circumstances, the addicts syringe will for sure become the open gates for AIDS pestilence. We already have the death-dealing samples: a couple of inject abusers, using for solution oxidation their own blood, infected almost a whole town in Russian Ural. A fatal epidemic in small metallurgists city - Temirtau in the industrial area of Karaganda of neighboring Kazakhstan was rashly spread by thousands of domestic drugs-injecting abusers (that is why the enlightened Occident does not hesitate to spent time and money to educate abusers how to make infusions safely, use sterile disposable syringes and condoms...).

But lets back home. First AIDS-infected abuser was recently diagnosed in Osh. A single yet. But international specialists from the field office of Medics sans Frontiers organization analyzed the highest availability of drugs in local circumstances and sorrowful past experience of France and some other countries. They foreseeing the prospect increasing of infected population no less then one thousand before the end of 2000! By the way, within the framework of their program in the region, Medics sans Frontiers are going to distribute among addicts syringes and condoms, to organize half way shelters- first aid points with hot food, sterile syringes, medical and psychological care for addicts willing to raise from the depth. But who can guarantee that from their first steps French doctors will not be accused of criminal pandering and prosecuted? The drug-abusing was excluded from the Kyrghyz criminal code, decriminalized for the first time in the Central Asia. But it is still considered as an administrative offense and should be punished. So what? To shelve the idea and forget? I shell not call for immediate changes in our state legislation. But, to my mind, this is the case to be equal to an anonymous treatment.. Speaking by Aesopian language, the positive approach wolf fat and sheep safe - doctors are allowed to treat their voluntary patients anonymously, without forced informing police agencies, because of the primary importance to support willing abdication, might be optimal. In the nearest time we are going to discuss the problem with regional law-enforcement authorities and elaborate the joint solution. I am sure, we can count on mutual understanding and support.

You dont think so? It was difficult for me as well to break up stereotypes, fixed in years in my own mind. I am a life police officer and it is much easier for me to understand (to understand but not to obey and adopt) the desires aimed for society protection and abusers segregation. But we should realize that the practical result of 80 years cavalry sword shaking is over-modest and we are loosing our battle with narcotism. Lets better make a step to solve the problem in civilized way, to prevent, at least, an AIDS Deluge...

All these innovations, as everything new and fresh, cannot be easily reached. The existing country legislation should be changed and the public opinion as well. In the same time, all law enforcement agencies should strength and consolidate their activity against narco-dealers, traffickers, organized criminal groups in order to decrease the black-markets supply. The positive results might appear soon. For example in Israel I met local non-aggressive, calm and quiet abusers. This is because by the local society they considered to be not enemies and criminals, but patients, seeking for human care, treatment and support. Special anti-drug programs are intended for kinder-gardens, schools, universities, military forces. All sides of society life are covered by drug-preventive activity, number of half-way and rehabilitative centers, psychological and medical care programs, everything to safe everyone stumbled.

About rehabilitative centers we should speak especially and in details. Our domestic drug-abuser, overcame withdrawal symptoms, in majority cases have to come back to the same environment. In the center he could strength himself in his voluntary willing to recover, to pass the course of social adaptation- some long-term abusers should be trained again in tooth-brush and toilet-paper using skills. To arrange the rehabilitative facilities is very expensive but essential undertaking. First of all we should consolidate efforts of the State Governmental structures (the luck of funds could be compensated by providing with free housing, electrical supplying and hitting), possible support from Medical Center of Doctor Nazaraliev, Meerim Foundation (drug-abusing in teenagers environment is a top problem now), Medics sans Frontiers Organization, in short, every little helps. And very soon the process will get moving.

By the way, the governmental narcological service is exhausted, because of insufficient funding, private medical care on no account could fill in a vacuum and become mass-public. The only agencies trying to help drug-abuser now are Anty-AIDS Organizations. I would like them keep on trying! Leader of the Republican Anti-AIDS Center team, recently visited southern region, made a conclusion, became a headline of this article: Your addicts are covered and hidden so much, as if they are wrapped up in bitumen!. Our domestic addicts are so much scared with police uniform, doctors whites (both must blacklist abusers names in the special registers and exchange the information) and public opinion (less), that they are doing everything possible to stay unknown. In this circumstances addict becomes much more dangerous for society (thief, robbers, source of infectious diseases) and his own family (a lot of time I heard the despaired parents entreaties about death for their own child- home tyrants).

More and more often a death comes on the tip of needle. The first victim of heroin overdoses passed away this January- 16 years old boy tested the drug in the first and final time of his short life. The second tester was hardly saved ...

Alexander Zelitchenko, colonel, Project Officer,

UN Anti-drug Project Osh knot.