The periodic drunken life of a person and his immoral behavior in society cannot go unnoticed. To isolate such individuals and ensure public order, back in the days of the USSR, a special institution was developed, called the LTP. Persons who abused alcohol were sent there for compulsory treatment. How the re-education of these citizens is now taking place on the example of the Republic of Belarus, our article tells.
What is LTP
The organization, which is part of the system of internal affairs bodies of the Republic of Belarus, is aimed at the forced isolation of people convicted of chronic alcoholism, as well as at their medical and social adaptation. The work is based on the mandatory attraction of such citizens to work. Similarly, they are sent to the rehabilitation of patients with drug addiction and substance abuse.
Legislation
Not everyone is familiar with the decoding of what LTP is. This is a medical dispensary. The main question is, does staying in a remote establishment help, does it change the views of those who have gone astray?
Forced isolation regulatedthe following documents:
- Law “On the procedure and conditions for referral to medical and labor dispensaries and conditions of stay in them” No. 104-3 of 2010-04-01.
- Decree of the Ministry of He alth of the Republic of Belarus dated 10.07.2002 “On the issues of recognizing a person as a patient with alcoholism, drug addiction or substance abuse, the procedure and conditions for providing medical care to patients.”
- Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus No. 238-3 dated 1999-11-01.
- Decree of the Supreme Court "On the practice of consideration by courts of cases of involuntary hospitalization and treatment of citizens" No. 7 of 2005-30-06.
Case review
What is LTP, in Belarus everyone knows a patient with chronic alcoholism who at least once got into a sobering-up station or was detained by representatives of the authorities for debauchery and immoral behavior in a public place. If a violation of public order is repeated with frequent intervals, then after several warnings, a subpoena will follow to consider sending this person to LTP for a year.
In accordance with the Civil Code, a citizen can be sent to a specialized dispensary only after consideration by the court of a submission made by a district police officer or other authorized person, signed by the head of the territorial internal affairs body or his deputy at the location. If there are no grounds for refusing the application to initiate a case, the court shall issue a ruling on preparing it for trial. How to get a referral to LTP will be consideredbelow.
Legal Aid
Most often, people who have been convicted of alcoholism do not require legal protection, but are able to defend their rights themselves, or do not have time to take care of involving a lawyer due to the speedy consideration of the case. If a person whose case is being considered by a judge is against his stay in a labor dispensary and wants his rights to be defended by a lawyer, and also has witnesses who can prove incompetent drawing up by the authorities of the referral to the LTP of Belarus, he has the right to write a petition to postpone the consideration of the case for finding a lawyer and concluding an agreement with him for the provision of legal assistance. In this case, the judge goes forward and is ready to listen to all the arguments, get acquainted with the positive characteristics presented, and take into account the testimony of witnesses. If the evidence indicates that a person got into such a situation by accident and does not need to be involuntarily isolated, a refusal to send him to an LTP may be issued.
Grounds for referral for treatment
There should be no difficulty in deciphering what LTP is. As stated above, this is a medical and labor dispensary, where citizens are sent whose illnesses (drug addiction, alcoholism) are documented and confirmed over a long period of time. Any person from the street cannot be brought to court and sent without arguments to a dispensary for labor treatment. The person against whom the case is being considered has the right toproceedings to familiarize themselves with the materials of the case. Documents must contain the grounds for the application of measures:
- Medical report. It includes a medical examination of citizens by order of the head of the internal affairs body or his deputy. A person who is sent to the procedure may appeal against this decision by writing an application addressed to a superior officer or prosecutor. The conclusion of doctors can also be challenged in court by filing a counter petition for a forensic drug examination. In this case, it is necessary to indicate for what reasons the person does not agree with the previous conclusion.
- Copies of issued resolutions on administrative pen alties for offenses committed by a citizen while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. It is important that there is a mark in the document on the establishment of the fact of being in an intoxicated state at the time of the commission. If there are doubts about the validity of the decisions made, the citizen has the right to challenge the veracity of the document. There is Article 182 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Belarus, according to which the facts in the decision on an administrative offense do not have prejudicial force. They are subject to scrutiny during the trial. Therefore, it is important to know not only what an LTP is in Belarus, but also about your rights and opportunities.
- Documentary warning by an employee of the internal affairs bodies about the possibility of sending a citizen to a medical dispensary (in case of non-observance of public order and a change in lifestyle). In such a protocol, there must be a mark of the person in respect of whomit is drawn up, that he is familiar with this document. This decision can also be appealed by writing a statement addressed to a superior officer or prosecutor. If this action was not taken, it means that the citizen is considered to agree with the warning and take note of it.
Documentation
Deciphering LTP makes it clear that this institution is based on medical assistance to citizens, first of all, and occupational therapy is an additional element of rehabilitation. In this regard, in order to send a needy person to such a dispensary, it is necessary to documentally recognize him as a patient with chronic alcoholism, substance abuse or drug addiction. Thus, first a medical report must be issued, where the disease is confirmed, and only after that a warning about the possibility of placing a citizen on compulsory treatment.
This person must have the following documents:
- Data on his marital status and the presence of minor dependent children.
- Copies of birth certificates for minor children.
- Voluntarily undergoing drug or alcohol treatment.
- A statement from the medical card on the state of he alth.
Consideration of the case in absentia is impossible. A representative of the internal affairs bodies must be present, as well as a person in respect of whom an idea was drawn up about the direction to the LTP, the abbreviation of which was deciphered above.
Who is sent to a medical dispensary
The law approved the list of persons who can be placed in forced labor treatment:
- Persons who have a documented disease of alcoholism, substance abuse or drug addiction. Persons who have been brought to administrative responsibility more than three times in a year after committing offenses while intoxicated or under the influence of psychotropic or other intoxicating drugs. These people were warned about the possibility of being sent to LTP (as it is translated, indicated above), after which they were again brought to justice for similar offenses. At the same time, they were in an inadequate condition.
- Citizens who are obliged to pay the expenses spent by the state for the maintenance of children on state support, in case they violate labor discipline of a systemic nature due to the use of drugs, alcoholic beverages or intoxicating substances.
Who is not sent to LTP
There is a list of persons who, in any way of life, are not subject to referral to LTP. What are such people doing? Why are they not referred for treatment? These categories include the following individuals:
- Pregnant women. Bearing a child is the reason for registration in a narcological medical institution (if there is an addiction), but the refusal of isolation.
- Women with dependent children under one year of age.
- Underage teenagers. Their he alth and behavior is controlled by the relevant authorities, but in LTP they can besend only when they turn 18.
- Older people who have reached retirement age.
- Disabled people of groups 1 and 2.
- Citizens with diseases that prevent them from being in a medical dispensary, as well as such ailments that cannot be treated in an LTP (stands for medical and labor dispensary).
When considering a case in court, the documents submitted from the clinic are necessarily studied. If it turns out that a citizen has a serious illness that prevents being in an LTP, a refusal to satisfy the application for sending this person for compulsory treatment will follow.
The list of such diseases includes: chronic kidney complications, diseases of the endocrine system, blood poisoning, hepatitis, pericarditis, pneumoconiosis, syringomyelia, epilepsy, paranoid personality disorder, dementia, malignant tumors, and eye diseases. What is oculomotor neuropathy? LTP in this case is banned or not? Damage to the nerve of the eye can be congenital or acquired. With this disease, a person cannot control the movement of the pupil. With such a diagnosis, strabismus and diplopia quickly develop, which limits the usual life activity. Such an ailment can also be the result of heart disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis and aneurysm. All diseases that give the right to exemption from referral to LTP are indicated in the Decree of the Ministry of He alth of the Republic of Belarus No. 53 dated 10.07.2002.
Appeal against decision
Afterthe judge listened to the side of the representative of the internal organs, as well as the opinion on sending the person concerned to the medical and labor dispensary, a positive decision is made or a refusal. The citizen has the right to file a complaint about the decision. The same can be done by his representative (if any) within 10 days from the date of the decision or the preparation of its motivational part.
Return to sober life
How LTP is translated is known to many, since in my life I had to deal with this institution. Therapeutic-labor dispensary is an extreme measure to prevent alcoholization of the population. It's hard to see how he althy able-bodied men drink too much. Dozens of people around the drunk suffer from this. The restriction of the sale of alcoholic beverages and the cessation of the production of cheap fruit and berry species played a role in improving the dynamics, but did not cure addicted people.
In Belarus, Turkmenistan and Transnistria, the Soviet way of dealing with alcohol addiction in the form of occupational therapy and isolation from society behind the fence of LTP is still practiced. Previously, this was common throughout the expanses of the Soviet Union. At the same time, for some time this method was an effective option for dealing with alcoholics.
Soviet times
Drunkenness was a serious problem in Soviet society. Many crimes were committed under the influence of alcoholic beverages. What is LTP in the USSR? Previously, this was the name of a kind of "prison" for drunkards who wereestablished in the mid 1960s. The first dispensary opened its doors in Kazakhstan in 1967, although other sources say that this happened in 1974. The results were successful. Therefore, soon similar institutions began to open throughout the USSR. The goal was to re-educate a person, to develop a stable sense of refusal from alcohol, to accustom him to work. Compulsory treatment was perceived calmly in society.
They could be sent to a closed institution for a period of six months to two years. Citizens who abuse alcoholic beverages, as well as those who lead an immoral lifestyle, violate public order against the background of drunkenness (this wording was indicated by a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) could get there. If a citizen was repeatedly caught in violation of public order (he made a brawl in public places or drove a car while drunk), what an LTP is, he could learn from personal experience. Then the forced re-education of drunkards was welcomed. In those days, LTPs were not listed as medical organizations, but were under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the system of penitentiary institutions (prisons, detention centers, colonies).
Did you end up in LTP in the USSR for what? Such a measure of influence was applied to incorrigible alcoholics. In Soviet times, not every drunkard was sent for treatment. This could be done on the basis of a statement from relatives or after the sixth hit in the sobering-up station. The citizen was initially sent to the medical commission, where the question was decided whether he needed compulsory treatment. In case of positivedecision, the court ruled on the isolation of the alcoholic in the LTP.
Some patients themselves expressed a desire to go to a dispensary where treatment was prescribed (they gave out Antabuse, valerian and painkillers, sometimes a course of reflexology was given). The treatment process, which involved the development of an aversion to alcohol, proceeded as follows: the patient was injected with a special drug that awakens intolerance to strong drinks, after which the patient was asked to drink some alcohol. The result was vomiting. This procedure has been practiced more than once.
Liquidation of free labor force
What was LTP in Soviet times? The institution looked like an ordinary building with rooms in which bunk beds were located. Isolation was in effect. It was possible to see relatives and friends once a week. Leave was granted only in the event of the death of a relative or natural disaster.
Free time from treatment, a person worked. Alcoholics were sent to agricultural work on collective farms, factories and factories (cleaners, loaders). Patients became a free labor force, so many enterprises tried to be the first to be able to host such workers. Only unskilled labor was offered, there was no opportunity to improve the level of one's skills during rehabilitation. The working day started at 7 or 8 am and continued until 4 pm. A lunch break was mandatory.
How work is carried out in LTP. What is therehappening? Its feasibility and effectiveness have often been criticized. According to some reports, by the end of the 20th century more than a million people had been treated in LTP, many of whom continued to drink alcohol after returning home. Soon the question arose about the competence of this institution. It was considered in the 70-80s of the last century. After the collapse of the USSR in Russia, it was decided to get rid of the remnants of the Soviet past, including LTP. In 1994, medical dispensaries officially ceased to exist.
Modern view of the problem
What is LTP? The decoding of the abbreviation is also known in the EU countries. This is a medical and labor dispensary where alcoholics are forcibly sent for social rehabilitation. There are a lot of such establishments in Germany, but they try not to talk about them. Everything happens on a voluntary basis. Europeans are satisfied with the result. In most cases, such labor treatment in a dispensary helps citizens start a new life without alcohol addiction.
