Portugal's Decriminalization Policy On Drugs Shows Marked Success

Northside Storm · Jul 3, 2011

http://www.scientificamerican.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, mar1juana, 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
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http://matadornetwork.com/nights/10...tion-in-portugal-has-reduced-addiction-crime/

TEN YEARS AGO TODAY, Portugal instituted a law that decriminalized the use of drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Now, on the anniversary, they’re reporting some very positive results.

The law stipulated that people caught using or possessing illegal substances would be sent before a panel of psychologists and social workers instead of a judge in a criminal court. Depending on the offender’s use history and level of addiction, he/she would be prescribed treatment rather than jail time. 40,000 drug users are currently being served by this system in Portugal.

Since 2001, incidence of drug-related crime has dropped, as has the estimated number of “problematic” addicts (the latter has been cut in half compared to the early ’90s.) These figures are some of the best in Europe.
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Portugal's Decriminalization Policy On Drugs Shows Marked Success

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