4 ms·

I'm all for decriminalizing drugs, no argument from me on that. However Portugal homicide rate went up by 40% after they did it (https://fullfact.org/factcheck

• stickfigure 12y ago
  That document pretty explicitly says it has no idea if the statistic is linked to drug policy. However, even if we posit that the correlation is significant, I'm not sure what you can read into this. While comparatively enlightened, Portugal did not legalize drug possession and didn't decriminalize vending of drugs. So organized crime is still the one making (and fighting over) all the money. To this day, the best example of the social effects of repealing prohibition is the repeal of Prohibition.
  • omonra 12y ago
    Good point, thank you.
• pacifist 12y ago
  Here's another take on it: [1]A widely repeated claim is that, as a result of Portugal’s decriminalisation policy, drug-related homicides increased 40% between 2001 and 2006. But this claim is based on a misrepresentation of the evidence. The 40% increase (from 105 to 148) was for all homicides, defined as any 'intentional killing of a person, including murder, manslaughter, euthanasia and infanticide' – they were not 'drug-related’ [1] http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-setting-record-straight http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-...