War on Drugs? Portugal Might Have the Answer – The Portugal News

In 2001,Portugal took a radical step. It became the first country in the world todecriminalise the consumption of all drugs. TIME Magazine recently reported,back then, Portugal was in the grip of heroin addiction. An estimated 1 percentof the populationbankers, students, socialiteswere hooked on heroin andPortugal had the highest rate of HIV infection in the entire European Union.It was carnage, recalls Amrico Nave, a psychologist and President ofCrescer, an outreach NGO focused on harm-reduction practices. In 2001, he wasworking with the addicts living in the neighbourhood. People had sores filled withmaggots. Some lost their arms or legs due to overusing.

It allstarted in Olho

Accordingto most reports, the crisis began in Olho. Its difficult to understand why itshould be Olho, but this was a prosperous time for this city, tourism wasgrowing, and currency flowed throughout the southern Algarve region. But by theend of the decade, heroin began washing up on Olhos shores. Overnight, thisslice of the Algarve coast became one of the drug capitals of Europe: one inevery 100 Portuguese was battling a problematic heroin addiction at that time.Headlines in the local press raised the alarm about overdose deaths and risingcrime. The rate of HIV infection in Portugal became the highest in the EuropeanUnion.

In 2001,Portugal became the first country to decriminalise the possession andconsumption of all illicit substances. Rather than being arrested, those caughtwith a personal supply might be given a warning, a small fine, or told toappear before a local commission a doctor, a lawyer or a social worker about treatment, harm reduction, and the support services that were availableto them.

This was a revolutionary approach to dealing withdrugs. It is important to note that Portugal stabilised its drug crisis, but itdidnt make it disappear. Drug-related deaths, imprisonment and infection ratesplummeted, but Portugal still had to deal with the health complications oflong-term drug use.

Thedifference between legalisation and decriminalisation

The firstthing to understand is that decriminalisation in Portugal removes criminalsanctions against the personal use of drugs. A person under the possession of adrug under a specific amount will not be prosecuted (defined as 10 days worthfor personal use). However, this does not mean that individuals are neverarrested for drug-related crimes or behaviour. While the consumption of drugsis decriminalised, thats not the case for the selling of drugs.

Readerswill probably know that in certain areas, buying drugs is not a great problem.People are approached in the street, especially in tourist areas. This isillegal and will result in criminal prosecution.

How doesPortugal deal with drug users

The basisof Portugals attitude towards drug users is to treat rather than imprison.This is mainly organised through the public network services of treatment forillicit substance dependence, under the Institute on Drugs and Drug Addiction,and the Ministry of Health. In addition to public services, certification andprotocols between NGOs and other public or private treatment services ensure awide access to quality-controlled services encompassing several treatmentmethods. The public services provided are free of charge and accessible to alldrug users who seek treatment.

There are73 specialised treatment facilities (public and certified private therapeuticcommunities), 14 detoxification units, 70 public outpatient facilities and 13accredited day centres. Portugal is divided into 18 districts. There is fullcoverage of drug outpatient treatment in virtually all of Portugal.

The socalled substitution treatment is widely available in Portugal, through publicservices such as specialised treatment centres, health centres, hospitals andpharmacies as well as some NGOs and non-profit organisations.

Why dontother countries follow Portugals strategy?

Officialfigures show that Portugals approach to drug users is very successful. Youhave to ask why the rest of the World doesnt adopt Portugals approach.

The NewYork Times reported, Many people are also coming to Portugal to explore what asmarter, health-driven approach might look like. Delegations from around theworld are flying to Lisbon to study what is now referred to as the Portuguesemodel. Portugal initially was scolded around the world for its experiment, asa weak link in the war on drugs, but today its hailed as a model. Oneattraction of the Portuguese approach is that its incomparably cheaper totreat people than to jail them. According to the New York Times the HealthMinistry in Portugal spends less than $10 per citizen per year on itssuccessful drug policy. Meanwhile, the U.S. has spent some $10,000 perhousehold.

One issueseems to be the subject or the legalisation of the sale of marijuana. Manyreports I have read seem to say that if they decriminalise the personal use ofdrugs that they should, at least, legalise the sale of marijuana which fewcountries wish to do. Holland has done it, but few others want to follow. Thisseems like confused thinking to say the least.

Portugalhas got it right, the vast majority of governments agree, but they wont followPortugals lead. You have to ask why not?

Disclaimer:The views expressed on this page are those of the author and not of The Portugal News.

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War on Drugs? Portugal Might Have the Answer - The Portugal News