Uruguay passes bill for compulsory internment of drug addicts

Montevideo, May 14 (Prensa Latina) the Uruguayan Chamber of Deputies passed on Tuesday a bill for the compulsory internment of drug addicts living on the streets.

May 14, 2024
22:06

The regulation includes the prior consent of the person who will be subjected to internment to treat their addiction.

The plenary of MPs voted 74 in favor and nine against, in a vote in which the Broad Front divided its votes.

In July, 2022 the initiative had been voted in the Chamber of Deputies only with the support of the Government coalition benches; in the Senate the bill underwent some changes, and in May, 2023 it received the green light only with the votes of the ruling party.

Now, it has finally been approved in the Lower House, and in its articles the goals of ‘rehabilitation and social reintegration,’ as mentioned in the first article of the original proposal, have been left out.

The basic aim of the regulation is detoxification and patients ‘with problematic consumption’ will be able to make use of the treatment established by the Ministry of Public Health.

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