Why solving the heroin crisis might mean legalising it

If the ‘junkie lifestyle’ is actually just a consequence of prohibition, then perhaps there is another way to help people addicted to heroin, writes Niko Vorobyov

An uplifting mural outside a detox centre in Stone Town (Niko Vorobyov)

The metal gate creaks open and I step into the courtyard of a spartan detox centre on the southeast outskirts of Stone Town, Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania. “Come on here, two kings can’t sit on one throne,” cracks Ahmad, a jolly middle-aged Arab sailor, waving me away from another guest eager to tell his story. “You’re from Russia? I’ve been to Russia... well, it was the USSR times back then. I’ve been all over – Georgia, Romania, Ukraine... all over the Black Sea!”

I visited Zanzibar last year to find out how the heroin crisis has taken hold in this often ignored corner of the world. But having written a book about the war on drugs across the globe one thing I’ve noticed is the stages are different, but the plays remain the same. Defeating it demands the same solution – if politicians have the guts.

Ahmad climbs onto his bed and lights a cigarette. He’s here every day as a volunteer, telling the young men who pass through of his many decades drinking, smoking and shooting up.