Guangdong’s new drug rehab method attracts attention of Justice Ministry

Judicial Minister Chen Xunqiu and Labor Education Director General Li Rulin were accompanied yesterday by Guangdong Judicial Minister Chen Weixiong, vice-Judicial Minister He Mingqing, Labor Education Directors from 14 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, and labor education law enforcement officers who over see drug rehabilitation to visit Foshan's Three Waters Drug Rehabilitation Center to learn and borrow from the Center's experience in getting set up.

Drug Quitters

"Here, quitting drugs gives you a feeling of accomplishment"

"My family and friends can't trust me anymore. They only allow me carry a little bit of cash with me; they're afraid that as soon as I have any surplus money, I'll go and buy drugs." Wei Zhong (not his real name), from a small town outside Dongguan city, told writers that in his own village, he didn't need to work and had extra money, and he found his plentiful life to be extremely boring. In search of a more exciting kind of "enjoyment," he developed a drug addiction. The result was that things just got more out of hand. As his health steadily deteriorated, he was sent multiple time by family members to voluntary detoxification, was sent thrice by law enforcement to mandatory detoxification and twice to a labor re-education facility. Of the five "old friends" from his village with whom he used to use drugs, three have died from drug use and one has AIDS.

"I don't want to die! I still want to go to Beijing to see the 2008 Olympics," a wide-eyed Wei Zhong told reporters. Through his own labor he has earned the money to go to Beijing next year to see the Olympics. Not long ago, after obtaining education about quitting drugs, he chose Three Waters Drug Rehabilitation Center. "Life here has rules, you can come and go freely, every week has psychological counseling and diverse education about refusing drugs, our labor is compensated, we have a feeling of accomplishment about ourselves, and most importantly, we can stay far away from our former drug-using friends."

"My wife wanted me to come," says Zhen Hua (not his real name) from Guangdong. Laughing, he told reporters that he came out of a rehabilitation center on the last day of this past year. At that time his wife, who came to meet him, had heard of a new method of drug rehabilitation. They made a shortcut to Three Waters to check it out, and she decided right away that her drug-free husband should go to the Center. She signed a one-year agreement with the Center. Zhen Hua spent three days with his 80-year old mother for New Year's, and then on the 4th, he reported to the center. "Returning home, I can't find a good job, and my family is always worried that I will start using drugs again." Shen Hua says he hopes that through a year of hard work, he can use the stipend he earns by working to support his mother, and change the negative image of him that his children carry in their hearts.

Labor Education Bureau takes responsibility for people

"Next year employment to be arranged for 3,000 people"

The Guangdong Commissioner of Labor Re-education Xiang Heqi told reporters that the work and set-up of Three Waters Rehabilitation Center, one of eight pilot sites implemented country-wide in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, follows the Judicial Administration's document "On Suggestions for Supporting the Establishment by Detoxification Centers of Rehabilitation Center Pilot Sites." By the end of 2008, it plans to set up a rehabilitation center that can provide rehabilitation and employment for 3,000 people.

Xiang Heqi said that the number of drug-users in Guangdong is in the hundreds of thousands. Drug prohibition work must start by reducing the number of addicts who re-lapse. Drug rehabilitation centers are a new method of drug rehab. The main targets for these centers are people who have already completed their stay at a drug detoxification center, and voluntarily decide to remain at a rehabilitation center to continue their recuperation and participate in professional and technical training, as well as various other people who voluntarily go to the center for rehabilitation.

The rehabilitation centers use the experience of the 100% successful quitting methods utilized in detox centers to provide education on matters such as psychological health, behavioral modification, and occupation in order to increase patients' awareness and motivation to abstain from drugs and help them learn the skills to do so.

Additionally, the centers use land resources to set up base sites for growing plants and flowers, and also for raising chickens, ducks, geese, and fish, which are sold along with grain products and oil. They have established a supermarket, and also set up a service company for everyday-use products. These programs allow people staying in the center to get some practice, develop a particular skill, and improve their ability to make a living. According to labor laws, those living in the center sign a labor agreement and are compensated according to the national standard for laborers.