tl;dr: Portugal decriminalized drug-use and others are reluctant to do so. If you want a summary... Portugal overcame an opioid epidemic through an "enormous

tl;dr: Portugal decriminalized drug-use and others are reluctant to do so. If you want a summary... Portugal overcame an opioid epidemic through an "enormous cultural shift, and a change in how the country viewed drugs, addiction – and itself... The official policy of decriminalisation made it far easier for a broad range of services (health, psychiatry, employment, housing etc) that had been struggling to pool their resources and expertise, to work together more effectively to serve their communities." "Massive international cultural shifts in thinking about drugs and addiction are needed to make way for decriminalisation and legalisation globally. In the US, the White House has remained reluctant to address... but... one has to want the change in order to make it." I'm interested to hear ideas on how other countries can come to be less reluctant and want to change if anyone has any.