São Paulo Mayor Doria Will End Haddad's Anti-Crack Program But Will Maintain Directed Actions

10/24/2016 - 10h56

The administration of João Doria (PSDB), the new mayor elected in the city of São Paulo, will end the Braços Abertos (Open Arms) program, a mark of the Fernando Haddad (PT) administration, in the city's so-called Crackland - an area used by crack addicts for consumption.

However, Doria will keep some of Haddad's actions, incorporating and conditioning them to Recomeço (Restart), a program of the state administration of Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB).

Essential points in Haddad's program, the housing and payments given to crack users for specific jobs, such as cleaning, will be kept but under one condition: the crack addicts must undertake to do the treatment and detoxification steps of the Recomeço program, says the state's Social Development Secretary, Floriano Pesaro, also of the PSDB.

It is certain that the name of the anti-crack program of the Haddad administration will be changed, as Doria had promised previously. "All the programs will be called Recomeço," says the secretary of the Geraldo Alckmin administration.

The programs of São Paulo City Hall and that of the state are based on opposite principles.

Recomeço was created by the Geraldo Alckmin administration in 2013 and proposed treatment with rehabilitation programs, often involuntary, and stays in therapeutic communities.

Haddad's program, on the other hand, started at the beginning of 2014 and uses damage reduction: crack addicts have to reduce the amount of drugs they take while they increase their autonomy, without going to rehabilitation, as they are provided with jobs and a place to live.

These actions have been criticized, especially due to the devastating scenario of the Crackland, which has seen little change, with crack users walking around the center of the city and the continuous drug trafficking.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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