I would like to call your attention to Hungarian Civil Liberties Union’s (HCLU) two new movies.
The first features the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPD), the first global network that represents people who use drugs in international agencies and aims to defend their human rights:
http://drogriporter.hu/en/inpud
We made the other movie to support activists from all over the world in the campaign to fully fund the Global Fund:
http://tasz.hu/en/hclu-film/broken-promises-kill-fully-fund-global-fund
EDITOR’S NOTE: To many, the idea of an organization of people who use drugs will seem inconceivable. It is exactly for their edification that the movie shorts were made and NewsLanc is publishing this letter. Actually, we in the United States have come to embrace some of the approaches advocated in the shorts: syringe exchange, Methadone clinics, drug courts, detoxification centers, mutual support groups for those in recovery. Yet even we have far to go in understanding that hard drug use should be dealt with more as a public health rather than a criminal justice issue.
Just as with alcoholics, some who use drugs function relatively well in life. Some have even had outstanding careers. But drug addiction is a terrible thing. We help addicts and society best when we provide care and treatment, not when we persecute and prosecute.
