The news that makes headlines in the edition of this Tuesday , May 9th in the Diario Notícias, reveals that in the first three months of the year, more than 10,000 syringes were distributed to drug addicts.
One reader commented that this is “A very bad indicator… on the one hand it is good to control the accidental spread of diseases among consumers and in the population, on the other hand it is a frightening number of drug consumption… this also explains the brutal growth in crime in Madeira and the increase in all forms of violence”. But is there a relationship between the increase in crime in the Region and drug addiction? Let’s see.
The first thing to check is whether crime really has increased. On the 16th of April, DIÁRIO announced that violent and serious crime in Madeira ‘has skyrocketed’. The news states that “since 2011 Madeira has not recorded such a high number of reported cases”. Therefore, it is confirmed that there is indeed an increase in crime in the Region.
It should also be noted that last year, the police authorities registered 6,810 crimes in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which corresponds to an increase of 22.4%.
Among the most violent and serious crimes that have grown in Madeira and Porto Santo in 2022 is ‘extortion’ which has grown by 1,000%, ‘rape’, with an increase of 185.7% and ‘robbery by snatching’ which counts with a rate of 77.3%.
In the news of April 3, of this year, it reports that the most reported crimes concern “driving a vehicle with an alcohol level equal to or greater than 1.2 g/l, domestic violence against spouse or similar, offense to physical integrity voluntary and simple, theft of a motor vehicle, threat and coercion, theft of a motor vehicle, driving without a legal license, theft of an unguarded object, theft from a residence with break-in, theft in commercial buildings with break-in, crimes of domestic violence and fraud and drug trafficking”.
With regard to drug addiction, especially drugs considered cheap such as ‘bloom’, it is not possible to measure how many people consume, but Eduardo Lemos, director of the Casa de Saúde São João de Deus, revealed in a parliamentary audience last October, that the new psychoactive substances have increased “significantly” in Madeira and that the pandemic has helped to increase this situation.
According to the most recent data available to DIÁRIO, in 2021 Casa de Saúde São João de Deus recorded 231 episodes and that in the first six months of 2022, 110 people had started treatment at that institution.
Therefore, it is also affirmative that cases of drug addiction have increased in the Region.
Is there a relationship between these two factors? The reality is that this statement becomes inaccurate.
It is true that crime has increased and it is also true that the number of hospitalizations for drug addiction has risen in recent years, but nothing confirms this correlation.
If you do a little research on drug addiction and crimes committed by them, in the DIÁRIO archive, this year there are two news items that refer to a theft being committed by a drug user.