13 ms·
I think Portugal's policy is great, but it's worth noting that they don't quite treat you just "like a sick person" - there are mandated treatments/etc. that th
by corin_ 12y ago
I think Portugal's policy is great, but it's worth noting that they don't quite treat you just "like a sick person" - there are mandated treatments/etc. that they can (and will) force on drug users, rather than just saying "hey we're opening the doors to treatment should you want it".
They released a 10 year report in 2011 that basically showed drug use had gone down by nearly any metric since they changed the laws in 2001. Not sure the best source to link to, but Forbes have an easy-reading brief piece [1] and tdpf.org.uk has some more detailed stats with references cited [2] (from a quick google for the report's findings)
[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-af...
[2] http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-setting-record-straight http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-...