4 ms·
For reference, Portugal has decriminalized drugs for personal use in 2001 (20 years ago!) Claims: - Drug-related deaths have remained below the EU average sinc
by yboris 5y ago
For reference, Portugal has decriminalized drugs for personal use in 2001 (20 years ago!) Claims:
- Drug-related deaths have remained below the EU average since 2001
- The proportion of prisoners sentenced for drugs has fallen from 40% to 15%
- Rates of drug use have remained consistently below the EU average
https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-po...
- swearwolf 5y agoThis gets repeated all the time by people who want to institute decriminalization in the US, but it’s always without an important bit of context. Although possession of personal use amounts is decriminalized, Portugal does force people into drug treatment. Drug users still get arrested when they’re caught in public with drugs, they just aren’t sent to prison. That step is critical, but almost always left out of the discussion. My home state decriminalized all drugs in personal amounts without any such forced treatment mechanism, after promising the results Portugal had. Turns out, much like a recipe it doesn’t work so well if you leave out important ingredients.