Prevention

The worse the conditions in which drug abuse takes place, the greater the dangers: dirty, disreputable, badly equipped public areas exposing drug users to the imminent risks of infection and overdose, “bad trips”, aggressive behaviour, accidents, etc. 

Risk-reduction measures can help drug abusers to manage their consumption better and so limit the risks.

DID  YOU KNOW? Drug-abuse prevention policies are not the responsibility of the federal government! In Belgium, prevention is in the competence of the Communities. Each Community therefore has an institution responsible for the prevention of drug abuse.

• The Flemish Community: Vereniging voor Alcohol en andere Drugproblemen (VAD)
• The French-Language Community and Brussels-Capital Region: Eurotox
• The German-Language Community: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für suchtvorbeugung (ASL)

There is also a Federal drug-abuse unit: SPF – Soins de santé – Cellule drogues

To limit the risks and dangers of drug abuse, it is important to be properly informed about: 

• the effects and the risks of the various drugs and mixtures of drugs
• risk factors which can worsen symptoms 
• first aid in the case of an overdose
• signs of a level of consumption which is detrimental for health
• signs of dependence.

One of the principal risks involved in using drugs by injection is the transmission of serious diseases, such as hepatitis C, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, syphilis or the AIDS virus (HIV).

Disposable syringes and sterile injection equipment can be supplied at syringe exchange programmes in Belgium to avoid the sharing of used needles.

• In Flanders : Free Clinic 
• In Brussels and Wallonia : Modus Vivendi

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), syringe-exchange programmes reduce the transmission of AIDS/HIV, under the condition that the number of injecting drug users remains stable. 

The use of heroin involves many risks for health and quickly causes a great physical and psychological dependence.

The substitution programme prescribed by the general practitioner consists in replacing heroin with methadone or buprenorphine. It allows:

• considerable and progressive reduction in the use of heroin
• reduction in use by injection and therefore a lower risk of the transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C
• improvement in commitment to treatment programmes 
• improvement in general health 
• the user to be taken out of the costly heroin market with the consequent improvement in social contact and reinsertion.

Drug consumption rooms allow:

• drug users to take drugs in a safer, more hygienic way and under supervision
• healthcare workers to have contact with drug users who are difficult to contact 
• a reduction in the use of drugs in public areas 
• a reduction in the disease and mortality related to drug abuse
• facilitated access to other social-welfare and health services and services for drug-abuse treatment. 

These consumption rooms have existed since 1986 in different countries such as Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Norway and Canada. They do not exist yet in Belgium.

Drug users can have the actual drugs bought in the street analysed, to be informed about the composition and dosage of the drug sample in order to assess  better the potential risks of their drug use.

In Belgium is this only possible by Modus Fiesta in Brussels. It is not tollerated in other areas of the country.

An overdose, also called “acute poisoning”, is an accident that happens when the quantity, quality and/or the mix of the drugs taken results in the loss of consciousness, respiratory arrest and sometimes death.

For this reason it is always advisable to be accompanied during the use of drugs (what to do in the case of an overdose).