Reinhard Spiegelhauer / HR
Edited by: Irini Anastassopoulou
For 20 years, Portugal has taken a different path in tackling drug use. For example, the possession of small quantities was decriminalized. Not just for cannabis but also for heroin, ecstasy or crystalline methamphetamine. Drug trafficking is still a criminal offense, but possession of small quantities is punishable as a misdemeanor, such as illegal parking. Can the Portuguese example be a model for other countries?
“Positive development in all areas”
The numbers speak for themselves. Of course, the drug trade continues, as there are still drug addicts, but the number of prisoners has decreased compared to 25 years ago and the number of users has decreased. In the late 1990s, 200 deaths and 10,000 arrests were recorded each year. Prisons were full of drug addicts and petty traffickers, politics had raised their hands. But then a daughter of the Speaker of Parliament died of an overdose and then her father publicly asked the state to give drugs in a controlled manner. This revolutionary proposal did not receive a response, but since 2001 anyone who smokes marijuana has not been prosecuted, not even when he takes drugs with a syringe.
Joao Gula is one of the architects of Portuguese drug policy, head of the Addiction Institute and for many years head of the Drug Monitoring Center. The Portuguese recipe is social work for occasional marijuana users, treatment for drug addicts and stricter penalties for traffickers. “Today we can say that nothing happened from what our critics predicted. On the contrary, we had a very positive development in all areas. Our primary goal was and is to offer help to the people, the services they need. We give advice to addicts and offer treatment. If we discover risk factors, such as family problems or psychological vulnerabilities, we try to prevent people from continuing their lives in drugs. That’s a big advantage of our system. “
Fines and not imprisonment for users
The allowed small quantities are precisely defined and whoever is caught with them is simply fined. But above all, the detainee appears before the Anti-Drug Commission, which is made up of lawyers, social workers and psychologists. Vasco Gomez heads such a committee in Lisbon. “About 80% of those who come to us are occasional users,” he says. “We enlighten them about the dangers, inform them and help them resist future temptations.”
In the past, Portugal paid a lot of money for mass prosecutions of drug-related crimes. Today the state funds counseling centers, substitution programs and treatments. “It’s much better that way than sending users to jail right away,” Gomes said. In 2000, Portugal had around 100,000 drug addicts, 1% of the population. In 2019, before the pandemic, 25,000 were recorded. Of course there are setbacks and criticism. Because with the pandemic, many people turn to drugs again, while substitution programs are criticized. Many consider detoxification to be the real solution.
See all the news
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
Skai
