4 ms·

And as Brennan mentioned above [1], what about Portugal? [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4314916 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4314916

• vibrunazo 14y ago
  Because Portugal didn't "legalize all drugs" as he posted. That's a common misconception, but very far from reality. The only big difference in Portugal from the rest of the planet, is that the drug user is treated like a medical patient and not a criminal. So you're ordered to go to a rehab instead of going to prison. But it's just as illegal as anywhere else. The word "decriminalization" causes a lot of confusion since it can mean a lot of different things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal
  • zalew 14y ago
    > The only big difference in Portugal from the rest of the planet, is that the drug user is treated like a medical patient and not a criminal. You should read about Switzerland's policy on heroin. Special clinics, perscriptions, available clean needles everywhere, professional staff (and AFAIR many members of public facing professions) medically trained to perform injections in case an addict needs one but isn't phisically able to do it himself, etc. Somebody who knows better can probably expand on the details, but there's a complex multi-layer policy on drugs, from prevention and harm reduction to quality control. Ironically, smoking joints is technically illegal and the latest try to do it didn't pass the referendum, however, the fines aren't that drastic according to wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Switzerland
• iaskwhy 14y ago
  The government does not produce drugs, people are just allowed to have individual doses. Nooone is allowed to be a producer or to sell.