In its initiative to gather support to ensure the rights of people who use drugs in Lebanon, Skoun, the Lebanese Addictions Center, held with its partners, a press conference at Riviera hotel to create a platform for dialogue with the public. This conference was under the patronage and in the presence of MP Simon Abi Ramia. Lawyer Nizar Saghieh (legal advisor of the project), Mr. Elie Lahoud (representative of the NGOs partnering with Skoun on the project), judge Samer Younes (public prosecutor) discussed the objectives, the process and the content of the law amendment initiative led by Skoun in 2010-2011. Many stakeholders including judges, ministries and civil society representatives, religious leaders, experts in the drug field as well as students and people who use drugs attended the conference and showed interest in this cause.
Today the Lebanese drug laws outline the same sentencing for people arrested for drug use as those arrested for drug cultivation, trafficking and smuggling. Many people who use drugs are incarcerated due to the lack of an operational and efficient referral system from the courts to health facilities in spite of the law outlining their right to treatment and the creation of such a system. According to a study on drug court cases conducted by lawyer Nizar Saghieh and in collaboration with Skoun, the majority of judges are sentencing drug users to jail or discharging them due to the lack of a system of referral and governmental treatment facilities: This has detrimental effects on the lives of people to whom the drug laws are applied. In fact, the absence of a referral system and public treatment facilities willing to receive people coming from different socio economic backgrounds has kept people who use drugs in the area of sanction, arrest and relapse without providing them with real opportunities for treatment.
According to the Situational Needs Assessment conducted by Skoun (2011), in which 383 drug users were interviewed more than a third had a drug related lawsuit against them. These people report that a direct consequence of their arrest and incarceration is their penal record, which often bars them from university enrollment or securing employment
Mrs. Nadya Mikdashi Skoun executive director and co-founder, said in her opening speech “This collaborative initiative is an attempt to move towards greater justice and improve the lives of drug users and their families as well as the greater good for Lebanon. Better laws lead to better policies which in turn helps all of us: the police force, courts, health care providers, and social welfare organizations to do our jobs better”.
Skoun and its partners have drafted a proposal for the amendment of the Lebanese Narcotics Law last amended in 1998. This initiative entails taking a second look at problematic issues such as the penal record, the large gap between the legal and the health systems, the differentiation between sentences for drug use and other drug related charges.
According to the Situational Needs Assessment conducted by Skoun (2011), in which 383 drug users were interviewed more than a third had a drug related lawsuit against them. These people report that a direct consequence of their arrest and incarceration is their penal record, which often bars them from university enrollment or securing employment
Mrs. Nadya Mikdashi Skoun executive director and co-founder, said in her opening speech “This collaborative initiative is an attempt to move towards greater justice and improve the lives of drug users and their families as well as the greater good for Lebanon. Better laws lead to better policies which in turn helps all of us: the police force, courts, health care providers, and social welfare organizations to do our jobs better”.
Skoun and its partners have drafted a proposal for the amendment of the Lebanese Narcotics Law last amended in 1998. This initiative entails taking a second look at problematic issues such as the penal record, the large gap between the legal and the health systems, the differentiation between sentences for drug use and other drug related charges.
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