Drug and addiction care workers gathered outside the Palais de Justice in Brussels on Monday to mark the international day of action "Support. Don’t Punish."
Over a hundred people gathered to demand an end to the Belgian "war on drugs" and advocate more humane drug policies.
"We want to convince politicians to put health back at the heart of drug policies", said Stéphane Leclercq, director of the Brussels Federation of Institutions for Drug Addicts (FEDITO BXL).
Leclercq argues that this would involve creating a social-health network to complement the judicial system, making it possible to offer "more proactive prevention, harm reduction and health pathways". This system would make it possible to separate consumers and people linked to drug trafficking.
Their proposals are inspired by Portugal's drug policies. The professionals consider that the current repressive approach fails to address the root issues of drug use. "We can see that this approach is deadly," explained Catherine Van Huyck, director of the Modus Vivendi non-profit and president of FEDITO BXL.
Protesters in front of the Palais de Justice on Monday. Credit: Belga/Adrian Burtin
"Fines and sanctions should remain a last resort. They only serve to increase insecurity," said Van Huyck. The FEDITO President pointed out that Belgium is still lagging in this area, compared to its European neighbours.
At the end of the event, Leclercq and Van Huyck presented Federal Minister for Social Affairs and Health Frank Vandenbroucke their proposals on health, prevention and support.
High time for a fresh approach
In 2022, a report by the Belgian Science Policy Office's drugs research programme (BELSPO) criticised Belgium's fragmented and outdated drug policies. The experts recommended that the guiding strategy and organisation of these policies be redesigned.
According to a 2021 report from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Belgian public spending on drug policy is mostly focused on assistance (60%) and security (38%) but allocates very few resources to prevention (1%) or harm reduction (0,4%).
"Support. Don’t Punish" is an international awareness-raising initiative that supports a harm reduction approach to drug use. Harm reduction is a human-forward approach that seeks to minimize the negative consequences associated with substance use, like the transmission of diseases or social exclusion.
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This approach focuses on drug usage as a public health issue rather than a criminal one. It supports the introduction of less repressive drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights.
The "Support. Don't Punish" Global Action Day takes place each year on June 26. This year, over 260 cities in 91 countries had actions for the occasion. The action day was created as an alternative to the UN's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
