Source: www.pontiactribune.com | Original Post Date: April 20, 2015 –
Fed up with soaring rates of disease from intravenous drug use, Portugal tried something radical: they decriminalized drugs. Yes, all drugs. Across the board from marijuana to heroin to ecstasy. And it worked.
In July 2001, Law 30/2000 went into effect, decriminalizing the purchase, possession, and consumption of all drugs for personal use. Though this is not the same as legalization, and the drugs are still illegal, “Otherwise, we would have gotten in trouble with the UN”, Dr João Goulão, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drug Addiction and architect of the law, explains, it shifts the focus from punishment to treatment, so getting caught using these drugs amounts to little more than the equivalent of a parking ticket. “We figured perhaps this way we would be better able get things under control. Criminalization certainly wasn’t working all that well.”
