Abstract
BackgroundHeroin has emerged as the primary drug of concern in China, with as many as three million contemporary users. Once a Chinese citizen has been identified by Chinese law enforcement as a ‘drug addict’, that individual is ‘registered’ in an official government tracking system for the rest of his or her life, independent of verified rehabilitation and recovery. Most of what is known about heroin users in China is based on studies of registered heroin users participating, often involuntarily, in government-sponsored treatment.MethodsUsing Grounded Theory Methodology, we collected and analyzed in-depth interviews of heroin users voluntarily seeking treatment at a new, non-government-sponsored, for-profit, addiction treatment hospital in Beijing, China.ResultsWe identified three major themes among our participants: (1) intense social stigma towards individuals with drug addiction; (2) a desire for anonymous, confidential treatment to avoid social stigma and the loss of personal freedom that accompanies participation in government-sponsored treatment; and (3) a deep mistrust of government-sponsored treatment and a search for more effective alternatives.ConclusionDespite a desire for treatment, our subjects were reluctant to access government-sponsored treatment facilities because of fear of a stigmatized identity, fear of loss of personal freedom, and lack of faith in the efficacy and safety of government-sponsored treatments. Their willingness to pay cash at a new, non-government-sponsored, addiction treatment facility illustrates the lengths to which they will go to remain ‘unregistered’ and to discover better alternatives. That the Chinese government allows such facilities to operate outside of government surveillance suggests a new openness to alternative options to combat China’s rising drug epidemic. The efficacy of these alternative options, however, remains in question.
Highlights
Heroin has emerged as the primary drug of concern in China, with as many as three million contemporary users
The compulsory detoxification institutions (CDI) and rehabilitation units through labor (RUL) are run by law enforcement agencies and the maintenance treatment (MMT) is run by the Department of Health [6]
Beijing government officials are aware of the existence of New Hospital and have sanctioned its existence, as attested to by an official document we were shown, patients at New Hospital can receive their treatment without triggering registration with government officials as an illicit drug user, a status which becomes permanently attached to the individual identification card in the national civilian database
Summary
Heroin has emerged as the primary drug of concern in China, with as many as three million contemporary users. Heroin is the primary drug of concern in China, followed by amphetamine-type stimulants and tranquilizers [3]. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security 2012 Annual Report on Drug Control estimates that 1.156 million of the 1.794 million drug-dependent persons registered by the national public security system are addicted to heroin [4]. The Chinese government has set up three types of facilities to target the problem of drug use and addiction. They include the compulsory detoxification institutions (CDI), the rehabilitation units through labor (RUL), and the voluntary detoxification institutions (VDI) such as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinics.
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