Promoting a new drug law in Ivory Coast
Leading organisation: Association pour la Promotion de la Santé de la Femme, de la Mère, de l’enfant et de la Famille (APROSAM)
Supporting organisations: Médecins du Monde (MdM), AGIR VITE, Réseau des Enseignants Engagés dans la Lutte (REEL) pour la Santé, Africa SunRise, Espace Magic CI, Sidalerte, Better Life, Conseil des organisations de lutte contre l’abus de drogues en Côte d’Ivoire (CONAD-CI), Comité Interministériel de Lutte Anti-Drogues (CILAD), Colorée Compagnie.
Since 2015, Médecins du Monde (MdM) has been implementing a harm reduction program for precarious People Who Use Drugs (PUD) in Abidjan. The third phase, starting in 2021, aims to extend the project to three other towns in Côte d’Ivoire, including San Pedro. On March 10, 2023, APROSAM, MdM’s implementing partner in the city and which works with key populations, inaugurated its Centre d’Accompagnement et de Soins en Addictologie (CASA) for drug users. The center, which aims to provide ECP for over 1,000 PUDs, is unique in that, in addition to the usual medical services, it offers low-threshold services, community and collective activities. Despite these campaigns, police intervention in drug consumption sites has led to the destruction of places where PUDs socialize, and to the arrest and incarceration of some PUDs without trial. PUDs are also victims of rejection by the community, their families and healthcare providers. Since July 2022, the adoption of the new Law n° 2022-407 of June 13, 2022 for the improvement of the legal framework in relation to drug trafficking has encouraged the setting up of working groups to draw up implementing regulations. This law contains a number of innovations, and while we await its effective implementation, it’s important to promote it.
The Support Don’t Punish 2023 campaign in San Pedro will consist, with the support of legal actors, in organising a conference on the innovations of the new law, during which there will be exchanges for a better understanding by all. For no one is unaware of the law. The day will also be marked by the creation of graphitis on the facades of the newly-built CASA wall.