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Portugal's drug decriminalization story

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Did you know that Portugal decriminalized drugs 10 years ago? Not just marijuana, but all drugs. Nowadays, Portugal has lower usage rates and lower incidence of drug-related crime than any other EU nation or the US.

This week at Politico of all places there's an excellent excellent op-ed by Glenn Greenwald about Portugal's radical new policies toward drug usage. Here are a few snippets:

By any metric, Portugal’s drug-decriminalization scheme has been a resounding success. Drug usage in many categories has decreased in absolute terms, including for key demographic groups, like 15-to-19-year-olds. Where usage rates have increased, the increases have been modest — far less than in most other European Union nations, which continue to use a criminalization approach.

Portugal, whose drug problems were among the worst in Europe, now has the lowest usage rate for marijuana and one of the lowest for cocaine. Drug-related pathologies, including HIV transmission, hepatitis transmission and drug-related deaths, have declined significantly.

Here's another excellent op-ed about the addiction of the US drug-warriors. Let's end this silly war on US citizens. Prop 19 will be an important first step!
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Anonymous said…
The Economist has been saying decriminalization is the way forward for a while now. It's great to see an actual case study where it's worked!
October 16, 2010 at 8:30 PM
Leah Bennett said…
I read that article, too. Very interesting. I had no idea!

I think the key to their success is linking users to the medical "tribunal" or whatever they call it. What a perfect combination of giving people liberty along with medical rights. It shows that people given the opportunity and education will do what's best for them. Love it!
October 20, 2010 at 6:08 AM
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