[Draft] Reducing Addiction

[Morover]

Health - Healthcare

Whipped this up pretty fast in response to criticisms against the at-vote proposal (soon-to-be resolution, it seems) with some help from GC - I think it's somewhat fair, but this is designed to be submittable regardless of previous active resolutions.

The General Assembly,

Recognizing that addiction is a life-ruining disease that can affect not only those who suffer from it, but their friends, family, and anyone else around them,

Believing that it is appropriate for the international community to intervene in cases where public health crises such as this run rampant across a multitude of member-nations,

Seeking to reverse the disastrous consequences of punitive actions against those suffering from a public health crisis,

Hereby enacts the following provisions into World Assembly law:

1. All member-nations are required to publicize information about addiction and how to avoid developing it, to an extent that most individuals in the nation are aware of it. This may come in the form of informational pamphlets, television commercials, online advertisement, dissemination within educational settings, or any other form of popular method to distribute the information.
2. Rehabilitation programs for addiction of recreational or prescription drugs, gambling, and any other prominent forms of addiction in each member-state must be created with sufficient capacity to treat all people within a member-nation suffering from addiction who seek rehabilitation. These rehabilitation programs must be of high-quality, with frequent reviews by the government to ensure their effectiveness in treating addiction. There must also be frequent reviews on the faculty’s treatment of patients in order to minimize cases of abuse.
3. Participation in these rehabilitation programs must be free for all people with addiction in member-states. They shall not be compelled out of attending, and will be allowed to stay for as long as treatment is beneficial for them in their recovery from addiction.
4. Participation or attempts at participation in rehabilitation programs shall not result in the punishment of any individual. Furthermore, it shall not be used as evidence in any trial for another crime, except in the defense of the individual on trial. Information given to staff and personnel at rehabilitation programs regarding one’s participation in the activity which they are addicted to shall also not be used in an attempt to punish them.
5. Health workers, social workers, and members of law enforcement are, within the course of their duties, required to provide accurate information on how to seek out treatment and rehabilitation programs to individuals suffering from addiction that they may encounter.
6. Member-nations are encouraged to incentivize participation in rehabilitation programs where feasible via the offering of skills training and/or education opportunities.
7. Treatment for addiction is encouraged to be pursued and distributed across all member-nations and the international community at large. Studies should be done into the effectiveness of these treatments, be peer-reviewed, and be distributed to all manufacturers, distributors, and other relevant healthcare personnel for the highest degree of information regarding modern addiction treatment to be administered at all times.
8. Member-nations may only pursue rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approaches to activities that commonly lead to addiction, and are barred from pursuing punishment-based deterrence such as imprisonment, fines, and other commonly administered punitive “solutions” to drug and gambling problems, among other addictive activities.
9. Nothing in this resolution is to be construed to prevent future legislation on the management of addictive activities, nor to directly regulate individual member-nation’s policies on the actual legality of participating in addictive activities.

Co-authored by Greater Cesnica.

Tear it apart

[Greater Cesnica]

"We are honored to be co-authoring this draft alongside our esteemed colleagues from Morover. As always, feel free to dissect our work and make constructive criticisms and suggestions."

[Bananaistan]

OOC because there's a lot. (my numbers here do not refer to section numbers)

1) How does one avoid developing an addiction? Are we going to be going around to every pub to tell every drinker to stop because they might get addicted?

2) What is "information about addiction"?

3) "higher frequency in communities that have significantly higher rates of addiction" sounds like it prolly offensive tbh. The WA has dealt with the root causes of whatever issues IRL USA you're envisaging here: poverty, equality, education, healthcare etc.

4) There's literally nobody better at spending other people's money than WA ambassadors. Why should everything be free? Surely there's a shed load of smokers who are well able to pay for their own addiction treatment? What about serial relapsers? Is it reasonable for the taxpayer to be continuously milked to pay for the nanny state's tenth or twentieth attempt to get someone off the drink? Is there literally no personal responsibility left for anyone?

Incidentally, I've a bit of familiarity with the area. You can bring a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.

5) Regarding smokers. What about them? This proposal lumps every single addiction into one homogenous group. You'd have cops getting literally no police work done because they've to tell every smoker they see "the good news".

6) "not be used as evidence in any trial for another crime" - murder victim is in, say, a residential treatment programme. Murder cannot be prosecuted because prosecution can't even refer to the crime scene.

7) Despite the disclaimer, section 8 stops nations from banning stuff or even just regulating. EG a ban on gambling advertising before the watershed is not a "rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approach".

[Imperium Anglorum]

OOC because there's a lot. (my numbers here do not refer to section numbers)

1) How does one avoid developing an addiction? Are we going to be going around to every pub to tell every drinker to stop because they might get addicted?

2) What is "information about addiction"?

3) "higher frequency in communities that have significantly higher rates of addiction" sounds like it prolly offensive tbh. The WA has dealt with the root causes of whatever issues IRL USA you're envisaging here: poverty, equality, education, healthcare etc.

4) There's literally nobody better at spending other people's money than WA ambassadors. Why should everything be free? Surely there's a shed load of smokers who are well able to pay for their own addiction treatment? What about serial relapsers? Is it reasonable for the taxpayer to be continuously milked to pay for the nanny state's tenth or twentieth attempt to get someone off the drink? Is there literally no personal responsibility left for anyone?

Incidentally, I've a bit of familiarity with the area. You can bring a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.

5) Regarding smokers. What about them? This proposal lumps every single addiction into one homogenous group. You'd have cops getting literally no police work done because they've to tell every smoker they see "the good news".

6) "not be used as evidence in any trial for another crime" - murder victim is in, say, a residential treatment programme. Murder cannot be prosecuted because prosecution can't even refer to the crime scene.

7) Despite the disclaimer, section 8 stops nations from banning stuff or even just regulating. EG a ban on gambling advertising before the watershed is not a "rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approach".

The patently inchoate nature of this proposal (evidenced in the quote above), along with the sine qua non linkages with the decriminalisation proposal, is why I strongly urged their being bundled instead of being put into separate resolutions. It does not help that, as I said on TNP's forum: "the two must go together for them to work, separating them and opening the possibility of one being enacted without the other opens member nations to the risk a worse outcome than doing nothing". If the author(s) (Greater Cesnica, Morover, and Honeydewistania) wish to meaningfully pursue this policy, they ought to make a single proposal which achieves all the goals they want. They have enough space. (Again, just omit the preamble...) Do they have the will to do it properly?

[Morover]

OOC because there's a lot. (my numbers here do not refer to section numbers)

1) How does one avoid developing an addiction? Are we going to be going around to every pub to tell every drinker to stop because they might get addicted?

2) What is "information about addiction"?

3) "higher frequency in communities that have significantly higher rates of addiction" sounds like it prolly offensive tbh. The WA has dealt with the root causes of whatever issues IRL USA you're envisaging here: poverty, equality, education, healthcare etc.

4) There's literally nobody better at spending other people's money than WA ambassadors. Why should everything be free? Surely there's a shed load of smokers who are well able to pay for their own addiction treatment? What about serial relapsers? Is it reasonable for the taxpayer to be continuously milked to pay for the nanny state's tenth or twentieth attempt to get someone off the drink? Is there literally no personal responsibility left for anyone?

Incidentally, I've a bit of familiarity with the area. You can bring a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.

5) Regarding smokers. What about them? This proposal lumps every single addiction into one homogenous group. You'd have cops getting literally no police work done because they've to tell every smoker they see "the good news".

6) "not be used as evidence in any trial for another crime" - murder victim is in, say, a residential treatment programme. Murder cannot be prosecuted because prosecution can't even refer to the crime scene.

7) Despite the disclaimer, section 8 stops nations from banning stuff or even just regulating. EG a ban on gambling advertising before the watershed is not a "rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approach".

OOC because there's a lot. (my numbers here do not refer to section numbers)

1) How does one avoid developing an addiction? Are we going to be going around to every pub to tell every drinker to stop because they might get addicted?

2) What is "information about addiction"?

3) "higher frequency in communities that have significantly higher rates of addiction" sounds like it prolly offensive tbh. The WA has dealt with the root causes of whatever issues IRL USA you're envisaging here: poverty, equality, education, healthcare etc.

4) There's literally nobody better at spending other people's money than WA ambassadors. Why should everything be free? Surely there's a shed load of smokers who are well able to pay for their own addiction treatment? What about serial relapsers? Is it reasonable for the taxpayer to be continuously milked to pay for the nanny state's tenth or twentieth attempt to get someone off the drink? Is there literally no personal responsibility left for anyone?

Incidentally, I've a bit of familiarity with the area. You can bring a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.

5) Regarding smokers. What about them? This proposal lumps every single addiction into one homogenous group. You'd have cops getting literally no police work done because they've to tell every smoker they see "the good news".

6) "not be used as evidence in any trial for another crime" - murder victim is in, say, a residential treatment programme. Murder cannot be prosecuted because prosecution can't even refer to the crime scene.

7) Despite the disclaimer, section 8 stops nations from banning stuff or even just regulating. EG a ban on gambling advertising before the watershed is not a "rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approach".

The patently inchoate nature of this proposal (evidenced in the quote above), along with the sine qua non linkages with the decriminalisation proposal, is why I strongly urged their being bundled instead of being put into separate resolutions. It does not help that, as I said on TNP's forum: "the two must go together for them to work, separating them and opening the possibility of one being enacted without the other opens member nations to the risk a worse outcome than doing nothing". If the author(s) (Greater Cesnica, Morover, and Honeydewistania) wish to meaningfully pursue this policy, they ought to make a single proposal which achieves all the goals they want. They have enough space. (Again, just omit the preamble...) Do they have the will to do it properly?

Thanks for the feedback - I'll be the first to admit that this is not my area of expertise, but I'm trying to do research on it and learn where I can - I understand there are issues, and parts of it seemed odd to be at points where I couldn't quite seem to get it right, which is why I posted it so that those smarter than me could point me in the right direction in that regard.

I'm going to start working with GC regarding a second draft - I will not say when it will be ready, but hopefully it will be changed pretty significantly to address some issues here and include some nuance that I didn't see the first go-around. I am in absolutely no rush with this and will not submit it until it's right.

If anyone has further comments (or suggestions of things to include) in the meantime, feel free to leave them, and we'll take them into consideration on the next draft.

[Bananaistan]

Thanks for the feedback - I'll be the first to admit that this is not my area of expertise, but I'm trying to do research on it and learn where I can - I understand there are issues, and parts of it seemed odd to be at points where I couldn't quite seem to get it right, which is why I posted it so that those smarter than me could point me in the right direction in that regard.

I'm going to start working with GC regarding a second draft - I will not say when it will be ready, but hopefully it will be changed pretty significantly to address some issues here and include some nuance that I didn't see the first go-around. I am in absolutely no rush with this and will not submit it until it's right.

If anyone has further comments (or suggestions of things to include) in the meantime, feel free to leave them, and we'll take them into consideration on the next draft.

OOC: You're welcome. One thing I forgot to mention regarding the very first sentence - the disease model of addiction is not universally accepted. It might be best to avoid a potential point of contention by removing the reference but. "Life-ruining" is perhaps a bit over dramatic too. Addiction can be life-ruining but it's not always, EG they say half of smokers die from smoking meaning that the other half don't.

[Onionist Randosia]

You might, maybe, want to 'define addiction for the purposes of this resolution'?

[Abacathea]

You might, maybe, want to 'define addiction for the purposes of this resolution'?

I don’t see how the definition would vary from resolution to resolution? Surely there’s no need for this?

[Greater Cesnica]

Ambassador McCooley stretches his arms, yawning quietly.

The General Assembly's chambers were fairly quite at this hour. Nevertheless, business called. His government had asked McCooley to at the minimum provide a status update on the draft he had co-authored alongside the Delegation from Morover. He hoped that his work would be well-received by said Delegation.

He presses enter on the "Send" button, uploading the rough draft he had cobbled up as of late to a secure file-sharing website available to the various Delegations of the World Assembly.

The General Assembly,

Recognizing that addiction is an insidious disease that can affect not only those who suffer from it, but their friends, family, and anyone else around them, with untold amounts of public expenditure being wasted due to the impacts of addiction on societal systems and inappropriate, punitive responses to it,

Believing that it is appropriate for the international community to intervene in cases where public health crises such as this run rampant across a multitude of member-nations,

Seeking to reverse the disastrous consequences of punitive actions against those suffering from a public health crisis,

Hereby enacts the following provisions into World Assembly law:

1. ”Addiction” for the purposes of this resolution shall be defined as the persistent repetition of behaviors to an extent that day-to-day routines, relationships, and functioning are severely impacted, as assessed by a relevant professional.
2. All member-nations are required to publicize information about addiction and how to avoid developing it, to an extent that most individuals in the nation are aware of it. This may come in the form of informational pamphlets, television commercials, online advertisement, dissemination within educational settings, or any other form of popular method to distribute the information.
3. Rehabilitation programs for addiction of recreational or prescription drugs, gambling, and any other prominent forms of addiction in each member-state must be created with sufficient capacity to treat all people within a member-nation suffering from addiction who seek rehabilitation. These rehabilitation programs must be of high-quality, with frequent reviews by independent auditors to ensure their effectiveness in treating addiction. There must also be frequent reviews on the faculty’s treatment of patients in order to minimize cases of abuse.
4. Participation in these rehabilitation programs must be free for all people with addiction in member-states. They shall not be compelled out of attending, and will be allowed to stay for as long as treatment is beneficial for them in their recovery from addiction.
5. Participation or attempts at participation in rehabilitation programs shall not result in the punishment of any individual. Information given to staff and personnel at rehabilitation programs regarding one’s participation in the activity which they are addicted to shall also not be used in an attempt to punish them.
6. Health workers, social workers, and members of law enforcement are, within the course of their duties, required to provide accurate information on how to seek out treatment and rehabilitation programs to individuals suffering from addiction that they may encounter.
7. Member-nations are encouraged to incentivize participation in rehabilitation programs where feasible via the offering of skills training and/or education opportunities.
8. Treatment for addiction is encouraged to be pursued and distributed across all member-nations and the international community at large. Studies should be done into the effectiveness of these treatments, be peer-reviewed, and be distributed to all manufacturers, distributors, and other relevant healthcare personnel for the highest degree of information regarding modern addiction treatment to be administered at all times.
9. Member-nations may only pursue rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approaches to activities that commonly lead to addiction. Furthermore, member-nations shall not impose punitive measures such as imprisonment, fines, or other civil sanctions as a means of punishing an individual for suffering from addiction.
10. Nothing in this resolution is to be construed to prevent future legislation on the management of addictive activities, nor to directly regulate individual member-nation’s policies on the actual legality of participating in addictive activities.

He sighed. "Well, that's that." he murmurs to himself. He gets up, and leaves the sprawling chambers.

It was time for a glass of wine.

[Collection Session]

Health - Healthcare

Whipped this up pretty fast in response to criticisms against the at-vote proposal (soon-to-be resolution, it seems) with some help from GC - I think it's somewhat fair, but this is designed to be submittable regardless of previous active resolutions.

The General Assembly,

Recognizing that addiction is a life-ruining disease that can affect not only those who suffer from it, but their friends, family, and anyone else around them,

Believing that it is appropriate for the international community to intervene in cases where public health crises such as this run rampant across a multitude of member-nations,

Seeking to reverse the disastrous consequences of punitive actions against those suffering from a public health crisis,

Hereby enacts the following provisions into World Assembly law:

1. All member-nations are required to publicize information about addiction and how to avoid developing it, to an extent that most individuals in the nation are aware of it. This may come in the form of informational pamphlets, television commercials, online advertisement, dissemination within educational settings, or any other form of popular method to distribute the information.
2. Rehabilitation programs for addiction of recreational or prescription drugs, gambling, and any other prominent forms of addiction in each member-state must be created with sufficient capacity to treat all people within a member-nation suffering from addiction who seek rehabilitation. These rehabilitation programs must be of high-quality, with frequent reviews by the government to ensure their effectiveness in treating addiction. There must also be frequent reviews on the faculty’s treatment of patients in order to minimize cases of abuse.
3. Participation in these rehabilitation programs must be free for all people with addiction in member-states. They shall not be compelled out of attending, and will be allowed to stay for as long as treatment is beneficial for them in their recovery from addiction.
4. Participation or attempts at participation in rehabilitation programs shall not result in the punishment of any individual. Furthermore, it shall not be used as evidence in any trial for another crime, except in the defense of the individual on trial. Information given to staff and personnel at rehabilitation programs regarding one’s participation in the activity which they are addicted to shall also not be used in an attempt to punish them.
5. Health workers, social workers, and members of law enforcement are, within the course of their duties, required to provide accurate information on how to seek out treatment and rehabilitation programs to individuals suffering from addiction that they may encounter.
6. Member-nations are encouraged to incentivize participation in rehabilitation programs where feasible via the offering of skills training and/or education opportunities.
7. Treatment for addiction is encouraged to be pursued and distributed across all member-nations and the international community at large. Studies should be done into the effectiveness of these treatments, be peer-reviewed, and be distributed to all manufacturers, distributors, and other relevant healthcare personnel for the highest degree of information regarding modern addiction treatment to be administered at all times.
8. Member-nations may only pursue rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approaches to activities that commonly lead to addiction, and are barred from pursuing punishment-based deterrence such as imprisonment, fines, and other commonly administered punitive “solutions” to drug and gambling problems, among other addictive activities.
9. Nothing in this resolution is to be construed to prevent future legislation on the management of addictive activities, nor to directly regulate individual member-nation’s policies on the actual legality of participating in addictive activities.

Co-authored by Greater Cesnica.

Tear it apart

If we're going to try and curb addiction, why don't we just ban...e-cigarettes? weed? blah blah blah, like what addiction are we talking about here.

If it's alcohol, good luck.

If it's e-cigarettes, maybe...

If it's tobacco, then probably not.

If it's gambling, like mentioned, ehhhhh, banning gambling is a mixed bag, but I'm not sure there.

Also drugs are sorta vague, like type of drugs, prescription? hard ones? weed?

[Kenmoria]

“Clause 4 would prohibit, in my view, mandatory rehabilitation from an addiction as part of a response to crime linked to that addiction. Since this rehabilitation is far superior to imprisonment in terms of outcomes, I think that this prohibition ought to be changed.”

(OOC: Morover, could you put the latest draft, posted by GC, in your opening post? I almost responded to the wrong version.)

[Juansonia]

--snip--

If we're going to try and curb addiction, why don't we just ban...e-cigarettes? weed? blah blah blah, like what addiction are we talking about here.

"Banning items is not an effective way of curbing addiction, and support services don't need to be as specific about addictives than laws do."
- Maria-Fernanda Novo, Ambassador

Also drugs are sorta vague, like type of drugs, prescription? hard ones? weed?

"The beauty of focusing on treating addictions is that there is no need to be specific about addictives when writing legislation."
- Maria-Fernanda Novo, Ambassador

[Greater Cesnica]

“Clause 4 would prohibit, in my view, mandatory rehabilitation from an addiction as part of a response to crime linked to that addiction. Since this rehabilitation is far superior to imprisonment in terms of outcomes, I think that this prohibition ought to be changed.”

(OOC: Morover, could you put the latest draft, posted by GC, in your opening post? I almost responded to the wrong version.)

"I believe you may have misunderstood the use of the term 'compelled' in this context- the prohibition on compulsion applies to be compelled to leave a program, not to join one."

OOC: I've let Morover know of my edits above. Awaiting feedback and action on their end.

[Kenmoria]

“Clause 4 would prohibit, in my view, mandatory rehabilitation from an addiction as part of a response to crime linked to that addiction. Since this rehabilitation is far superior to imprisonment in terms of outcomes, I think that this prohibition ought to be changed.”

(OOC: Morover, could you put the latest draft, posted by GC, in your opening post? I almost responded to the wrong version.)

"I believe you may have misunderstood the use of the term 'compelled' in this context- the prohibition on compulsion applies to be compelled to leave a program, not to join one."

OOC: I've let Morover know of my edits above. Awaiting feedback and action on their end.

“That does make more sense than my interpretation. I do recommend, for clarity, changing from ‘compelled out of attending’ to ‘compelled to refrain from attending’.”

[Greater Cesnica]

"I believe you may have misunderstood the use of the term 'compelled' in this context- the prohibition on compulsion applies to be compelled to leave a program, not to join one."

OOC: I've let Morover know of my edits above. Awaiting feedback and action on their end.

“That does make more sense than my interpretation. I do recommend, for clarity, changing from ‘compelled out of attending’ to ‘compelled to refrain from attending’.”

"Done!"

McCooley updates his draft, hitting the send button..

The General Assembly,

Recognizing that addiction is an insidious disease that can affect not only those who suffer from it, but their friends, family, and anyone else around them, with untold amounts of public expenditure being wasted due to the impacts of addiction on societal systems and inappropriate, punitive responses to it,

Believing that it is appropriate for the international community to intervene in cases where public health crises such as this run rampant across a multitude of member-nations,

Seeking to reverse the disastrous consequences of punitive actions against those suffering from a public health crisis,

Hereby enacts the following provisions into World Assembly law:

1. ”Addiction” for the purposes of this resolution shall be defined as the persistent repetition of behaviors to an extent that day-to-day routines, relationships, and functioning are severely impacted, as assessed by a relevant professional.
2. All member-nations are required to publicize information about addiction and how to avoid developing it, to an extent that most individuals in the nation are aware of it. This may come in the form of informational pamphlets, television commercials, online advertisement, dissemination within educational settings, or any other form of popular method to distribute the information.
3. Rehabilitation programs for addiction of recreational or prescription drugs, gambling, and any other prominent forms of addiction in each member-state must be created with sufficient capacity to treat all people within a member-nation suffering from addiction who seek rehabilitation. These rehabilitation programs must be of high-quality, with frequent reviews by independent auditors to ensure their effectiveness in treating addiction. There must also be frequent reviews on the faculty’s treatment of patients in order to minimize cases of abuse.
4. Participation in these rehabilitation programs must be free for all people with addiction in member-states. They shall not be compelled to refrain from attending, and will be allowed to stay for as long as treatment is beneficial for them in their recovery from addiction.
5. Participation or attempts at participation in rehabilitation programs shall not result in the punishment of any individual. Information given to staff and personnel at rehabilitation programs regarding one’s participation in the activity which they are addicted to shall also not be used in an attempt to punish them.
6. Health workers, social workers, and members of law enforcement are, within the course of their duties, required to provide accurate information on how to seek out treatment and rehabilitation programs to individuals suffering from addiction that they may encounter.
7. Member-nations are encouraged to incentivize participation in rehabilitation programs where feasible via the offering of skills training and/or education opportunities.
8. Treatment for addiction is encouraged to be pursued and distributed across all member-nations and the international community at large. Studies should be done into the effectiveness of these treatments, be peer-reviewed, and be distributed to all manufacturers, distributors, and other relevant healthcare personnel for the highest degree of information regarding modern addiction treatment to be administered at all times.
9. Member-nations may only pursue rehabilitation or rehabilitation-oriented approaches to activities that commonly lead to addiction. Furthermore, member-nations shall not impose punitive measures such as imprisonment, fines, or other civil sanctions as a means of punishing an individual for suffering from addiction.
10. Nothing in this resolution is to be construed to prevent future legislation on the management of addictive activities, nor to directly regulate individual member-nation’s policies on the actual legality of participating in addictive activities.

EDIT: Please use this new thread to provide feedback: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=527614

I have received permission from Morover to create this new thread, given that they are locked out of their account and unable to recover their password.