The ESEC pleads for the recognition of addictions, with or without harmful substances, as diseases eligible for reimbursable care. Indeed, legal goods and services from activities with addictive potential, generate a turnover of no less than 32.19 billion dirhams, or nearly 3% of GDP and 9.1% of tax revenue.
The findings are alarming and worrying. Morocco is experiencing, in line with the global trend, a dazzling increase in addictive behavior, whether related to the use of psychoactive substances of various kinds (tobacco, sugar, alcohol, drugs, etc.) or the practice of certain activities. potentially addictive (betting, gambling, video games, Internet, etc.).
Indeed, reviewing the different manifestations of addictive behavior reveals that the phenomenon is widespread and multifaceted. This is one of the findings drawn by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) through the publication of its main conclusions and recommendations. This opinion, which was issued in the context of a self-referral, is entitled “Dealing with addictive behavior: inventory & recommendations”.
According to ESEC estimates, addictive behavior is both a disease and a fact of society. In this sense, he considers that “the time has come to transform our collective view of addictions, in a spirit of responsibility and solidarity that favors scientific evidence over superstition, rational action over resignation, the protection of victims to their stigmatization, the emancipation of individuals, families and society at large rather than their vulnerability to substances and behaviors that threaten their autonomy and their health security”.
A significant economic weight
According to the ESEC, legal goods and services from activities with addictive potential generate a turnover of 32.19 billion dirhams, or nearly 3% of GDP and 9.1% of tax revenue. Of this amount, the State deducts more than half (56%) – via various taxes and duties – an amount of 18.03 billion dirhams.
These figures relate to tobacco (17 billion dirhams of expenditure by smokers giving rise to 13.6 billion dirhams of ICT, VAT and import duties), alcohol (4 billion dirhams of business volume for 1.9 billion dirhams of public revenue ), bets and lotteries (11.9 billion dirhams in business volume and 2.5 billion dirhams in public revenue). Tobacco turnover alone (estimated at 17 billion dirhams in 2021) represents five times the investment budget of the Ministry of Health (3.35 billion dirhams projected for 2021).
At the same time, the total turnover of legal activities with addictive potential represents 1.7 times the budget of the Ministry of Health (18.6 billion dirhams). Public revenue drawn from these three items alone (tobacco, alcohol, games) weighs regarding 8% in the total revenue of the State, roughly the equivalent of the total tax revenue from the management of public enterprises and privatization (19.9 billion dirhams under the 2021 Finance Law), a third of revenue from corporate tax (IS), or five times the payments of OCP to the State, in 2020.
The recommendations of the ESEC
Moreover, addictive behaviors are not sufficiently recognized and supported by social protection bodies, nor treated as illnesses, although they are defined as such by the WHO. Faced with this observation, the ESEC recommends a set of several recommendations, in particular the recognition of addictions, with or without harmful substances, as diseases eligible for reimbursable care.
It is also important, according to the Council, to “Revise and update the legal framework of medical coverage in order to clarify the nature and specify the typology of addictive disorders considered as diseases requiring treatment”. It also calls for the revision of the Penal Code by making systematic the application of the provisions giving right to the therapeutic injunction for drug users and by reinforcing the sanctions once morest traffickers of illicit substances.
Reserving a permanent share (10%) of State revenue drawn from legal goods and services resulting from activities with addictive potential (tobacco, alcohol, horse racing betting, lottery, sports betting) for care, research and prevention is also one of the avenues proposed by the Council. This in addition to the legal recognition of the discipline and the university degree in addictology as well as the adoption of the statutes of other professions related to this discipline (psychologists, occupational therapists, etc.) with a view to developing the necessary human resources.
Furthermore, the ESEC recommends generalizing access to treatment, by substitution for opiates, in all penitentiary establishments, while guaranteeing the possibility of access to care for any dependent prisoner who expresses a wish for it.
Sanae Raqui / ECO Inspirations
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