Buzzby

Where's Lula? The Decree that Hasn't Come
Al Giordano | The Narcosphere | 11/26/2004

According to Brazilian government records, President Lula da Silva's expected presidential decree authorizing decriminalization of drug users, the creation of safe-use rooms for injected drug users, and the change in the name of the lead agency from "National Anti-Drug Secretary" to "National Secretary about Drugs," was not issued on November 24th.

As reported last week by the daily Folha de Sao Paulo (and translated by Narco News) the various drug policy agencies in Lula's administration had reportedly come to a "consensus" for a policy change that would be signed by Lula this past Wednesday.

However, the national drug czar, General Paulo Uchoa, did give a media interview on Wednesday in which he said there will be safe-use houses for injected drug users established... but only in an "experimental" manner...

Let's read the tea leaves of the information that is available today...

A presidential decree had been promised making the new pro-Harm Reduction drug policies official this week, but Lula signed only two presidential decrees (#5,823 and #5,824) on Wednesday, neither of them having anything to do with Harm Reduction or drug policies.

The agency known as SENAD (National Antidrug Secretary) has not changed its name as listed on it's website, but does have a new and apocryphal document titled "National Policy About Drugs" - the title (Politica Nacional sobre Drogas) is consistent with the promised name change. There is a link to download the document... but the document has been removed!

Meanwhile, in an interview on the "Bom Dia Brasil" ("Good Morning Brazil") program on the Globo TV network, given by national drug czar Paulo Roberto Uchoa (considered to be one of the drug war "hawks" in the Lula administration who had been blocking the new consensus), the czar creates some clarity and also some confusion...

Q. One project that is causing a lot of discussion inside and outside of the government is the project of creating safe use salons, where drug users will be able to use drugs with syringes provided by the Health Ministry. Do you, Sir, think this project is ready to go?

Paulo Roberto Uchôa: We're not going to mix policies. The delivery of syringes is a very serious work that the Health Ministry is doing as it seeks to regulate the Harm Reduction situation in the country. As far as the safe-use salons go, this is not going to happen yet, because the Health Ministry has proposed it as an experimental work, at the university level, with very rigid controls by the Ministry - and only in extremely serious cases. At the same time, this is an idea that still hasn't been approved for launch in Brazil. That's why the safe-use rooms aren't beginning yet.

So, how to read that? He says it's not happening but it is happening, only he calls the program of safe-use rooms "experimental." He did not speak to whether or not the "experimental" program would still include 250 safe-use houses or not.

It seems that the "consensus" mentioned last week has hit a snag... Could it be (ya think?) that it is being blocked by a certain foreign Embassy?

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