jjmelo

There is one country that has opted out of the War on Drugs and the violence and stunning brutality that always accompanies it: Portugal. In 2000, the Portuguese government decriminalised all drug use, including the so-called “dangerous drugs” like heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine. Decriminalisation is not legalisation, and the police can still arrest people for drug use and drug trafficking. But with the passage of Law 30/2000, drug use or possession is not deemed a criminal offence but instead, an administrative one. Portuguese drug policy experts confronted the fact that prison stigmatises people, teaches criminal survival skills and makes social reintegration difficult. And putting people behind bars didn’t decrease drug use.