By Wang Wen
王文
Recently, I read a short piece with no headline that was posted to an email group. The author, one of our fellow drug users in Kaiyuan City, Yunnan Province, said that when he took a make-up test for one part of his driving license exam on September 6, the local traffic management department told him that his license has been revoked based on The Notice about Strengthening the Management of Automobile Driving for Drug Addicts. Because he had been detained by the local police station on August 21, 2012 for using drugs, the police labeled him as an unreformed drug user.
日前我从一个邮件组里看到一篇没有标题的短文，里面讲述了9月6日云南省开远市一位成瘾者同伴去补考驾驶证的一项科目，被当地交管部门告知，他2012年8月21日在某地吸食毒品被当地公安机关某派出所抓获，所以，已经将他定为吸毒成瘾未戒除人员，他的驾驶证已经按照公安部《关于加强吸毒人员驾驶机动车管理的通知》吊销了。
In the face of this unexpected turn of events, this fellow was furious. He ran that day to the police station referenced by the traffic management department and demanded to know: When had he been detained? Where was the evidence for the alleged drug use? Where’s the record of his interrogation? Where was the urine test? If he had actually been detained, why had he not been sent to compulsory detoxification [as required under Chinese law]?
面对突如其来的变故，该同伴无比气愤，当天就跑去交管部门所说的抓获他吸毒的那个派出所质询他们何时抓获自己吸毒，抓获他吸毒的证明是什么？抓获他吸毒的问询笔录在哪里？尿检报告在哪里？为何抓获了他吸毒又没有把他送到强制隔离戒毒所戒毒？
In the face of this string of rapid-fire questions, the police officer had no response, and finally gave an oral apology. Finally, at the request of this man, the police provided a written confirmation proving that he had been drug-free for many years and had never been observed by the police injecting drugs.
面对这位同伴连珠炮似的提问，这家派出所的民警没法回应，只得向他口头道歉。最后在这位同伴的要求下，这家派出所的民警为他写了一份书面证明，证明他已经戒毒多年了，一直没有复吸的现象被警方发现。
After receiving the confirmation from the police station, the traffic department allowed this man to take the make-up test on time, and stated that he could have his driver’s license renewed as long as he passed the test.
交管部门拿到这位同伴从派出所开来的证明后，告知他按时来参加补考，只要补考通过了，他就能重新拿回驾驶证。
After reading this short piece, I’m so impressed by this person, and even emotionally moved…
看完这篇短文，我必须为这位同伴喝彩；看完这篇短文，我感触颇多……
Our contemporary society still shows its limited tolerance towards drug users, something we can see daily. It does happen as well that drug users’ legal rights are violated, and that their status as human beings is trampled on in one way or another. It’s not necessary to list every example here.
当下的社会对成瘾者容纳还不是很宽松，在我们的身边，成瘾者合法权益受到侵犯，人格尊严受到践踏的事情，时有发生，比比皆是，在此就不一一列举。
In recent years, however, there have been more examples of Chinese drug users asserting their rights. For example, on August 27, 2008, Yunnan Network Life News published an article with the headline: “A Woman Unsatisfied with Compulsory Detoxification Sues Public Security Bureau.” On March 24, 2009, the same paper had another article with the headline: “Drug Users Fight: Their Families Sue Compulsory Detoxification Center.”
近年来，成瘾者维护自身权益的事情频频发生。2008年8月27日云南网生活新报报道：女子不服强制戒毒状告公安局。2009年3月24日云南网生活新报报道：戒毒学员打架家属状告戒毒所。
In recent years, this writer has also had several experiences of both asserting my own rights and participating in other groups’ advocacy work. Last week, when I was chatting with some friends online, one former drug user from Northeast China who has been drug-free for many years, said that he often gets questioned about his drug use when taking taxis or staying in hotels. Because of this, he called the police and submitted an application to be removed from their monitoring system.
近年来笔者本人维护自身权益和参与维护社群人员自身权益的实例也有几起。上周笔者在网上与同伴交流时，就有东北戒毒多年的同伴因为出门乘车和住宾馆时常遭遇涉毒盘查的事情，向公安部相关部门打投诉电话，向当地派出所提交退出动态管控申请。
In another case last week, a peer from Shanghai told me that after many years of effort he finally got a certification from the local Drug Treatment Commission and the Shanghai district police station certifying that he has been cured of drug dependence. He was also able to expunge his records from the police in Shanghai.
上周就有上海同伴向笔者通报，经过多年努力，他所在的上海某区戒毒委和他户口辖区派出所等相关部门给他开了证明（证明他戒毒多年没有复吸）到上海公安局信息处屏蔽他在动态管控里的信息。
In reality, there are few peers imitating the people I mentioned above, and the majority fail to defend their own rights and interests. Most drug users remain silent when their rights are violated. The thinking behind their silence is nothing but this: Well, that is just the way society treat drug users. We were drug users, this is our fate, so we may as well give in and bear it. It’s hard to change people’s biases against drug users; this is what modern China is like and we’re not going to change anything in this generation.
现实中，如同上文中提到的那些会主动维护自身权益的同伴其实并不多见，多数成瘾者自身权益受到侵犯时还是忍气吞声，他们的想法不外乎，社会对待成瘾者就是这样，自己吸毒了，就认命了，就只能忍受了，凭一己之力是很难改变社会对成瘾者的陈见，中国的现状就是这样了，我们这代人根本改变不了。
Admittedly, the cases mentioned above, in which drug users tried to defend their rights, did not all have perfectly satisfactory results. It’s not possible to get everything we try for in this life. Nevertheless, you definitely get a better result by standing up than you do by cowering.
的确，上文中提到的成瘾者维护自身权益的事例，并不是都有一个令人满意和欣慰的结果，这世界本来就不是所有的事情经过努力都能如己所愿的。但是，退缩和迎战的结果肯定是不一样的。
Therefore, fellow drug users, when your rights and interests are violated, the most essential thing to do is to depend on yourself to claim your legal rights. Do not think that your legal rights will just shower down on you from heaven!
所以，对于成瘾者来说，当你的权益受到侵犯时，最重要的还得靠你自己站出来去争取你的合法权益，别指望你的合法权益从天上掉下来！
And what about those organizations that are trying to serve drug users and the grassroots NGOs that do public interest work? Of course, we rely on the true grassroots drug user rights groups to consider and probe these questions more deeply.
除此以外，那些在各地为成瘾者提供服务的机构和草根组织还能为这个社群做些有实质意义的工作呢？当然，这就只能留给那些真正的愿意为成瘾者这个社群服务的机构和草根组织去思考和探索了。
Wang Wen is the Harm Reduction Program Advisor for Dongjen Center for Human Rights Education and Action.
王文是东珍降低危害项目资深顾问。
