5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results

[Neomega]

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization

In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs. The theory: focusing on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users would decrease the number of deaths and infections.

Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.

 

[amadeus]

Good for Portugal! Now on to full legalization!

 

[Squarg]

Is it bad that Portugal is more socially advanced than us?

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

Drug problems are caused by globalisation. If we close our boarders none of these horrible substaces will come to our countries.

 

[lovett]

Drug problems are caused by globalisation. If we close our boarders none of these horrible substaces will come to our countries.

Nor will Bananas. Yellow devil fruit

 

[amadeus]

Drug problems are caused by globalisation. If we close our boarders none of these horrible substaces will come to our countries.

Yes! If Sweden closed its borders, you'd never have to worry about alcohol poisoning again!

 

[lovett]

Yes! If Sweden closed its borders, you'd never have to worry about alcohol poisoning again!

Or people drinking petrol. That stuff's vicious, best to get rid of it!

 

[aelf]

Yes! If Sweden closed its borders, you'd never have to worry about alcohol poisoning again!

There's always System Bolaget.

 

[LucyDuke]

It's nice being right.

Seriously, let's take this lesson and start to fix ourselves up, America. We look stupid.

Drug problems are caused by globalisation. If we close our boarders none of these horrible substaces will come to our countries.

Right, because drug trafficking is totally about loose borders and evil foreign influence. Not human nature and money.

 

[innonimatu]

The reduction in HIV infections through needles is due to the collection and swap programme for used needles, in pharmacies and some other places. But that, of course, was only possible because consumers stopped being treated as criminals in the first place.

There’s little organized crime due to drugs here anyway, but the next obvious step would be to decriminalize everything related to all but those immediately poisonous drugs. Obviously drug selling as a business would have to be discouraged (advertising forbidden, etc.). But that, even done carefully, would raise a huge political storm - and probably the damn EU would try to meddle too.

 

[eastsidebagel]

Drug problems are caused by globalisation. If we close our boarders none of these horrible substaces will come to our countries.

I disagree strongly about both statements. Every human being has the identical basic desires, such as the need for recreation or espacing from reality for once in a while, as the next guy.

 

[hossam]

Good for Portugal! Now on to full legalization!

whats the difference between decriminalization and legalization?

 

[Neomega]

The reduction in HIV infections through needles is due to the collection and swap programme for used needles, in pharmacies and some other places. But that, of course, was only possible because consumers stopped being treated as criminals in the first place.

There’s little organized crime due to drugs here anyway, but the next obvious step would be to decriminalize everything related to all but those immediately poisonous drugs. Obviously drug selling as a business would have to be discouraged (advertising forbidden, etc.). But that, even done carefully, would raise a huge political storm - and probably the damn EU would try to meddle too.

I think a country considering legalizing any controlled or mind altering substance should take 3 measures:

1) Only allow the sale of locally grown/produced products, to stem any form of extraterritorial subversion.

2) Tax the sale of drugs to fund treatment, safe use, and victim compensation only. Any attempts to tax beyond these goals may create prices in which a black market would still exist.

3) Register users, and ration drug use, to discourage over use and complete personal degradation.

 

[warpus]

I am gonna move to Portugal so I can get off the crack

 

[amadeus]

whats the difference between decriminalization and legalization?

It means possession is still illegal, but you won't get sent to jail for it.

For example: in Minnesota, marijuana is decriminalized but if you're caught possessing it, you have to pay a fine (up to $200) and maybe attend drug treatment.

Of course, the laws also stipulate that you can't have over 42½ grams or else it's a felony, or that if you are transporting it in a car where it can be accessed, that can get you up to 3 months in the poke.

 

[LucyDuke]

I think a country considering legalizing any controlled or mind altering substance should take 3 measures:

1) Only allow the sale of locally grown/produced products, to stem any form of extraterritorial subversion.

2) Tax the sale of drugs to fund treatment, safe use, and victim compensation only. Any attempts to tax beyond these goals may create prices in which a black market would still exist.

3) Register users, and ration drug use, to discourage over use and complete personal degradation.

One, coca doesn't grow as well in Canada as it does in Colombia. It doesn't make economic sense to insist on growing it domestically. Three, rations already don't work with our prescription systems, there's no reason to believe that would change by adding more chemicals to the selection and eliminating the criminal penalties associated with conning the system. It's a great idea to make healthcare available to drug users. Not so great to impose arbitrary limits that are bound to be ignored.