Guizhou Makes Significant Achievements in Community-based Drug Treatment & Rehabilitation Pattern
The way to facilitate “Sunshine Project” under challenges (3)

“Sunshine Project” finds fundamental solutions for community-based anti-drug tasks through a creative social administration mechanism: drug detoxification – rehabilitation – recovery – return to society

Related data indicated that, generally in case of compulsory rehabilitation, the relapse rate one year thereafter is about one in third and as high as two in thirds two years thereafter. The fruits in that which may consume considerable resources are almost completely offset by so high a relapse rate. Unfortunately, there is no permanent cure available in the world so far.

According to Cui Yadong, member of Standing Committee, secretary of Politics and Law Committee, Director of Guizhou Province Narcotics Control Committee and Head of Public Security Department of Guizhou Province, the fail in essentially eliminating drug abuse should be attributed to some long-term misunderstandings in our narcotics control, like, “concerns more punishing than guiding; more compulsory treatment than consolidated recovery; more on-site management than arrangement after return; more physical detoxification than psychological treatment; more supervision & control than service & relief”.

“Compared with other rehabilitation methods, the ‘Sunshine Project’ values more because besides advancing the community-based drug abstention, it has also further intensified the social administration mechanism and public service that are applicable to the drug users, meaning a lot to the anti-drug tasks, the maintenance of social stability and constrution of social harmony,” said Liu Zhimin, deputy head of the National Institute of Drug Dependence, Peking University, who has engaged in study on drugs for a long time.

Recently, in order to find its way of operation, the author paid a visit to Yunyan District of Guiyang City for an in-depth interview about this “Sunshine Project”.

Yunyan is the center of Guiyang and has 8,860 registered drug users, ranking among the tops in Guizhou Province.

Last March, Yunyan founded the Yunyan Sunshine Job Placement Base – the first “community plant” specialized to accommodate the rehabilitated, in cooperation with Hengchi Industries Limited. The plant's public utilities were invested by the government as fixed assets, while the production equipment was invested by Hengchi which was also responsible for organizing occupational skills training and production activities. The minimum wage for each work per month is 930 Yuan at present while the total salary may reach up to above 1,500 Yuan after adding piece-work-wage. The two “Sunshine Enterprises” in Yunyan district have totally accommodated nearly 300 people so far.