The Difference Between Quitting and Not Quitting Drugs

One night in April of 2006, I was bathing with a friend at the bathhouse on a major street in Beijing. As I was resting in the big hall, suddenly many policemen rushed in, running straight for us in a very bad temper. They dragged us to their office, and didn’t even let us dress ourselves before we had to go.

Policeman: “Just finished shooting up, huh?”

This time I said, emboldened: “I’ve quit for a long time!”

Policeman: “Who are you trying to fool? Can anyone quit such things? You’ll tell the truth once we’re back at the office!”

We tried to object, but no matter what we said they didn’t believe us, and so they took us away. Many people were around us, observing, as if we had committed some crime.

By the time we arrived at the police station it was already the early hours of the morning. They separated us and didn’t let us use the telephone, but let me drink lots of water and in about an hour we provided urine samples. When the test results came back negative the policemen didn’t offer any explanation whatsoever and just let us go. I angrily asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

Many people say that drug users cannot take life positively, but that’s exactly what I want to do. I also want to lead a normal life, but every day I have to fear this sort of situation. No matter how long it has been since I quit, this is the type of treatment I have to face.

But they said, “What of it? Isn’t it only natural that you guys should be tested? Or are you expecting us to send you off with a little bow and a ride home?”

The policemen’s attitudes were terrible from the beginning. They didn’t treat us with an ounce of respect, and even when the test results were negative, their attitudes didn’t change a bit. Off drugs or not, such is the case, as if people like us must carry the weight of this charge no matter what we do. Many people say that drug users cannot take life positively, but that’s exactly what I want to do. I also want to lead a normal life, but every day I have to fear this sort of situation. No matter how long it has been since I quit, this is the type of treatment I have to face.

This story is taken from AT WHAT COST?: HIV AND HUMAN RIGHTS CONSEQUENCES OF THE GLOBAL “WAR ON DRUGS”