Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal

Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal

blogs.forbes.com

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half:

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well, here you have it. Drug use down by 50%
"Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse. This is a far cheaper, far more humane way to tackle the problem."
We incarcerate drug users, fund mafias, promote vast criminal networks, incite cartel wars, outlaw useful plants like hemp because it looks like pot and get our children and police officers killed. All this we do and why, why oh why do we do this when there is a better proven way staring us in the face???

blogs.forbes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by RedPill


hi RedPill,
+thanks for that


yeah, hoping this WAR on DRUGs willl be over SOON...

waste of money, etc etc

great to see this in the "news"...

have to wonder if it will get much more publicity, though,
especially, MSM...

seeya

uh for the money obviously, i think you knew the answer

Waiting for the side that profits from the war on drugs to chime in AKA LEO's

S&F Well found!

It will only be a matter of time before the nay sayers come on to point out some sort of "error" in the count, or some other bumph!

Portugal is showing the world a new way. The war on drugs has failed and it is plain to see by anyone who cares to look at the details. Lets prey the world is watching and taking note.

I am not sure how much details is permitted on this subject on this board, but I would love to post some links to some further research on ths subject. Perhaps someone could advise me? I know this is a touchy issue.

You kind of need to give the whole story

In July 2001, Portugal became the first European country to formalize decriminalization of drug possession for personal use, when they introduced Law 30/2000. The law decriminalized the use, possession and acquisition of all types of illicit substances for personal use, defined as being up to ten days' supply of that substance. This was in line with the de facto Portuguese drug policy before the reform. Drug addicts were then to be aggressively targeted with therapy or community service rather than fines or waivers.[6] Even if there are no criminal penalties, these changes did not legalize drug use in Portugal. Possession has remained prohibited by Portuguese law, and criminal penalties are still applied to drug growers, dealers and traffickers.[7][8]

And the reason for easing the laws on drugs are?.....

The drug policy of Portugal was put in place in 2000, to be legally effective from July 2001. The EU had in effect forced the Portuguese government to make radical measures to reduce Portugal's record high incidence of HIV/AIDS[citation needed]. In 1999 Portugal had the highest rate of HIV amongst injecting drug users in the European Union. There were 2000 new cases a year, in a country of 10 million people. 45 % of reported AIDS cases recorded in 1997 originated among IV drug users[1], so targeting drug use was seen as an effective avenue of HIV prevention. The number of heroin users was estimated to between 50.000 and 100.000 in 2000[2]. This led to the adoption of The National Strategy for the Fight Against Drugs in 1999. A vast expansion of harm reduction efforts, doubling the investment of public funds in drug treatment and drug prevention services, and changing the legal framework dealing with petty drug offences were the main elements of the policy thrust.

So there is a bit more to this story than your title would suggest.

I am not sure how much details is permitted on this subject on this board, but I would love to post some links to some further research on ths subject. Perhaps someone could advise me? I know this is a touchy issue.

I've been told the best way to avoid getting 404'ed or your post removed is to post links to direct sources, and not places that reference those sources, as those places that reference them may have what "some people here" consider "questionable material" in regards to the arbitrary rules in place here.

reply to post by kro32

Isnt that the point of a catchy title, to draw you in to read more, the title is accurate, decriminalised (personal use) drug abuse is down (due to treatment rather then punishment)

reply to post by NuroSlam


Well I'm not really arguing his title as that would seem to be accurate but i'm just saying that it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Yes the abuse is down but the lifetime usage among others has doubled:

There is no reliable information about drug use, injecting behaviour or addiction treatment in Portugal before 2001, when general population surveys commenced. The only information about drug use before that time was the indicators on lifetime prevalence amongst youth, collected as part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD).

Reduction in drug related deaths, although this reduction has decreased in later years, and the number of drug related deaths is now almost on the same level as before the Drug strategy was implemented.[7][12] However, this may be accounted for by improvement in measurement practices, which includes a doubling of toxicological autopsies now being performed, meaning that more drugs related deaths are likely to be recorded.[13]

Lifetime use of illicit drugs increased from 7.8% to 12%[12] Care must be taken in interpreting this result as it may be down to the lessening of stigma surrounding non medical drug use, leading interviewees to give more honest answers, and against the rising use in neighbouring Spain.[13]
Lifetime use of cannabis increased from 7.6% to 11.7%.[12]
Lifetime use of coc aine more than doubled, from 0.9% to 1.9%[12]
Lifetime use of heroin nearly doubled, from 0.7% to 1.1%[12]
Lifetime use of Ecstacy increased from 0.7% to 1.3%[12

en.wikipedia.org...

So it would appear there are positives and negatives to this law. It does seem to have helped them solve the problem they were addressing though.

Originally posted by kro32

So there is a bit more to this story than your title would suggest.

Well, you can't tell the whole story with a tittle but if they really did reduce drug use by 50% then we need to pay attention.

As for telling the whole story, I have now doubt one could write a well documented book on this and still not get it all.

reply to post by RedPill


Well it looks like the drug use has gone quite a bit higher but the abuse part is down since if your caught you have mandatory treatment.

It's not science, people psychologically will rebel if placed limits, people do not like feeling as if they are prisoners, especially by another human being. People have no right to decide what a person can or cannot put inside their own bodies. We as human beings have the ability to take responsibility for our own actions. This is proof that when the limitation is lifted people will take responsibilty for themselves.


While I know that there are drugs that do in fact kill people, I believe these drugs should be placed a label warning "this will kill you if you take it" instead of a "you will go to jail if you take it". doesn't make sense. However there are drugs such as cannabis that actually do much more good than harm, that should be used as an alternative medicine. But because of corporations they will do everything in its power to keep it illegal. A DEA agent once said , "we don't want to win the war on drugs, we would be without a job". just goes to show you, that there is much more to the stories than meets the eye.

Out of all the conspiracies out there, the war on drugs intrigue me the most, because it's a perfect example on how brainwashed people trully are, and will believe anything the government tells them. But this is one topic ATS does not allow on these forums, when its connected to every conspiracy out there.


but here you have it folks, the proof is in the pudding, dont you think?


Edit

Alcohol is legal, guess whens the last time i drank alcohol. maybe a year ago perhaps?

reply to post by RedPill


Great post, Red,

I have always maintained that when things become legal it is much better.

Because you cut out the criminal element.

And because it is human nature to crave what is forbidden - when it is allowed and you try it, you think - huh, not so great.

I am an advocate for legalising drugs and prostitution worldwide for these reasons.

I am not a user of illegal drugs, nor of prostitutes - I just think that legalisation would make the world a healthier place.

reply to post by RisenAngel77


Great post

another interesting point to add - I drank from the age of 12 to the age of 18, then sporadically till I turned 21

Then I quit drinking for 15 years, AFTER I was legal to do so.

reply to post by RisenAngel77


I would have to argue with you on a couple of points. People I don't feel will rebel just because limits are placed on them. If that were the case than the whole world would be rebelling from traffic laws. Not happening.

And I understand about doing what you want to your own body but when the drugs may cause you to affect other people then it becomes more than just doing what you want to yourself.

You argument with alcohol there really isn't a response too since that's just as bad as drugs so can't disagree with you on that one.

reply to post by kro32


I disagree that people are obeying traffic laws... but I don't drive

I agree with you that alcohol is just as bad as most drugs - and even worse than some that are in the same class as the ones that spread HIV (you can figure those out, no sense risking a deletion)

reply to post by RedPill


Great article OP.

It's nice to see the abuse problem being solved by more treatment programs, rather than punishment.

Another thing I would like to see, is the amount of violent crime tied to drug use over the past 10 years. With abuse down by half, I would think that violent crime relating to drugs should be down to.

That's something else I was gonna search for and also if the amount of drug related hospitalizations have increased but I hate researching so i'll let someone else do it

Still not sure if this route would work in America or not. Would like to see more data on it.

reply to post by kro32

I would have to argue with you on a couple of points. People I don't feel will rebel just because limits are placed on them.

First you want to argue with history, now you want to argue with psychologists. Why? Are you a cop? Are you in denial?

If that were the case than the whole world would be rebelling from traffic laws.

And as we know, everybody strictly keeps to the speed limit right, even with one mile or kilometer too fast? You are so ignorant it should HURT your head.

Not happening.

Apologist alert, apologist alert.