Silk Road forums
Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: PolyHymniAa91x on August 05, 2013, 06:51 am
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I really wanted to post a msg on the "Why we will never win the war on drugs" forum, but I cannot seem to, apparently because I'm new my opinion is worth diddly squat! Never mind my Master's in International relations!
Anyway I just wanted to point out that Portugal decriminialised ALL drugs for personal use back in circa 2000. Within a year the country's number of problematic drug-users (eg heroin- and cocaine-dependent people) had already fallen dramatically, and has continued to do so ever since!
The Portuguese system now works thus: while dealing drugs is still an offense and is still treated as a criminal action by the legal system, if you get caught with any 'illicit' drug in quantities below a fairly generous limit (something like 3g for cocaine, heroin & amphetamine, twice that for marijuana and perhaps 10 pills [I forget the exact amounts but they're very reasonable]) you are not arrested and made into a criminal by the system; Instead, treatment is offered, paid for by the state! You are required only to attend a meeting with three specialists, some combination of a psychologist, psychiatrist and social worker, who discuss your drug use with to assess if it is problematic; whether it is or is not, they offer you free drug rehab - but you are not even obliged to take it if you don't want or need it!
To my knowledge Portugal remains the only country in the world to have taken this fantastically pragmatic step (although some other European countries, notably Netherlands and Denmark, also have extremely liberal drug policies)! Despite drug misuse and addiction being globally recognised by medical professionals as a MEDICAL & SOCIAL issue, Portugal is STILL, as far as I am aware, the only country that actually TREATS it in this way: it seems to be the only place in the entire world to actually treat drug (mis)use and dependence medico-socially, making it the only country whose politicians have actually listened to its medical practitioners, social workers and the WHO's recommendations. And the result has been truly excellent: by making the private & individual consumption of the numerous unregulated and untaxed chemicals that a billion people use every day non-criminal, they have made the subject far less taboo - because taking drugs for fun is not considered a criminal act (and nor should it be).
Ultimately, the citizens of Portugal now enjoy a MUCH better and more complete health system and quality of life, with young people especially being able to openly ask questions and be given impartial and ACCURATE info about drugs now. In addition, far fewer ppl now use 'hard' drugs at all than ever before, and the number of deaths caused by OD's or otherwise directly by drug use, has plummeted to one of the lowest in the civilised world! Thus, Portugal essentially no longer has a 'drug problem' at all: they still have drugs in the country, and ppl who enjoy taking them, but what they've achieved through their extremely pragmatic approach is not to get rid of the drugs, but instead to get rid of the problems they can cause when the underground/criminal market is the only way into, or out of, drug existence and use. Bravo, Portugal!
More countries need to follow this estimable example. Because they took a completely different legislative approach to drug use, Portugal can be said to be the only country that has actually 'Won' its 'War on Drugs' - not that they would have probably ever used such an asinine statement of rhetorical idiocy; they're clearly just too pragmatically-minded!