In March 2016, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health issued a circular urging all hospitals to abstain from contacting the police when a patient arrives to their emergency rooms displaying symptoms of a drug overdose.

It was thanks to intense lobbying efforts over the past few years by Skoun to prioritize saving lives over criminalization, and the Ministry of Public Health finally agreed and issued the circular earlier this year.

This is extremely important, especially in a country with a police force as corrupt as Lebanon’s when it comes to drug policies. How many times have you heard of a taxpayer ODing in front of a hospital because their friends or family were too scared of taking them to the hospital for fear they will get arrested, tortured and unlawfully imprisoned by bribe-hungry police?

How many lives have been abruptly cut short, when they were easily saveable if they got the necessary medical attention in time without the risk of arrest and criminal charges?

Skoun decided to call 122 hospitals across Lebanon and found out that 61.5% of them still call the police.

This misguided and devastating policy treats drug overdoses as a criminal offense, not a public health issue. Despite the disastrous failure of the “war on drugs” worldwide which Lebanon’s police adhere to for hopes the US will give them some money for their “efforts”, it is still a thing in Lebanon, where drug addicts are thrown in jail instead of getting the medical treatment they need. Imagine an opiate addict’s withdrawal symptoms while being tied upside down and beaten in Hbeich’s infamous hellish precinct… Inhumane and unjustified and downright stupid. After that addict’s loved ones pay off the cops or call in a favor, that addict will go back to using and risk hurting himself and those around him, instead of getting the care they need to get over their addiction.

Skoun has released a list of 10 hospitals in Lebanon that do not alert the police when an OD case presents itself at their ERs:

• Serhal (Rabieh) مستشفى سرحال — الرابية
• Lebanese Canadian (Sin El Fil) المستشفى اللبناني الكندي- سن الفيل
• Saint Charles Hospital (Hazmieh) مستشفى السان شارل — الحازمية
• Zahraa Hospital (Jnah) مستشفى الزهراء — الجناح
• Mount Lebanon Hospital (Ain El Remmeneh) مستشفى جبل لبنان — عين الرمانة
• Abou Jaoude Hospital (Jal El Dib) مستشفى ابو جودة — جل الديب
• Daher el Beshek Hospital (Roumieh)مستشفى ضهر الباشق — رومية
• Middle East Institution (Bsalim) مستشفى الشرق الأوسط — المتن
• Beirut Hariri Hospital (Jnah) مستشفى الحريري الجامعي — الجناح
• Hotel Dieu Hospital (Beirut) مستشفى أوتيل ديو — الأشرفية

Sadly, most of the hospitals are in and around Beirut, with rural areas still suffering because local hospitals refuse to abide by the circular issued from the Ministry of Public Health.

The list provided is not a final one, and more will be added in the coming days and weeks and I will definitely update it when it does. You can also check Skoun’s page and website to find out more.

Do not let someone you know die for fear of being tortured by the police for being a drug addict. If you work at a hospital, or know someone that does, find out if they still betray patient-doctor confidentiality by informing the police of something that is primarily a public health issue, not a criminal one.