Free Needles for Heroin Addicts

A few miles the south of the buzzing, metropolitan city of Madrid lies a small "gitano" village which is home to some of the most desperate people I have ever met: heroin addicts. The gitanos (travellers) make a good living out of drug trafficking but there in a rubble-filled, deserted car park the drug addicts sit in small makeshift tents or just lie out on worn out mattresses. Those who have been on drugs the longest are easily identifiable by their swollen, blackened hands and shuffling steps. It is hard to imagine, walking around the vibrant, lively centre of the Spanish capital, that such a subculture exists just a few kilometres away.

Betel, the church that I am going to here in Madrid, has a huge ministry to drug addicts. Betel started here just 25 years ago with the dream of helping the addicts kick their habits and has since spread throughout the world. Thousands of changed lives from around the globe testify to the love of these Christians and the power of God in breaking chains of addiction.

The team from Betel visit the site daily to give them food, tea and clothes, as well as to encourage those who want to that they are able to escape from the trap that they have found themselves in. They have several different rehab centres in the city where those who choose to can go to turn their lives around: a far longer and more painful task than it may sound. While out with the team, I asked what the large coach was doing on the site and one of them explained it was a government project which handed out free needles to the addicts.

Apparently, giving out free needles for the prevention of HIV is a Europe wide initiative. Clearly the EU has carefully considered this as the best option, yet it seems a controversial way of “helping” the situation. There were also several policemen around the area, and while we appreciated their protection, it seems strange that they were doing nothing to stop those taking drugs. One of the addicts who had just been shooting up went to the coach to get his arm bandaged up. 

The government seems to feel it is more important to prevent HIV than to discourage drug abuse. These addicts have been deemed beyond rescue. However Betel would disagree and it has been wonderful to meet several of the recovering addicts on Sundays, many years on, with families and jobs and a bright future ahead.