Thousands of miles away, a new approach to drugs might be what’s needed to fight drug addiction in the United States.
Portugal decriminalized many drugs in 2001. If Portuguese police find small, specific amounts of drugs on people, such as marijuana, cocaine, or ecstasy, the police will not arrest these people for drug possession. Instead, these people must go to commissions that can issue minor punishments for such possession (such as fines and community service), can find treatment for these people, or not impose any sanctions at all.
Is this working? A Spiegel Online article from 2013 reports mixed results. It says that after decriminalization, drug use among Portuguese adults rose and teenagers fell. The number of people in rehab also increased, but the number of drug users who contracted HIV decreased.
Based on these numbers, it appears that Portugal’s efforts are helping many of its residents. Teenagers are one such group of people who have benefited. It often seems that people want strict drug laws because they cite the effect of drugs on children, the old “It’s for the children” defense. We’ve seen these same concerns in arguments against the legalization of marijuana in Canada. But the number of teen drug users in Portugal decreased with the decriminalization of drugs.
It also appears that Portugal’s efforts are improving the health of its country’s residents by encouraging more treatment programs for substance use disorder. Of course, one could say that more residents are seeking rehab treatment because more residents are using drugs, but regardless of the reason, treatment is vital. People usually cannot treat addiction on their own. Treatment is not a cure-all for everything, but it can be a good first step to living a healthier, drug-free life.
Portugal’s decriminalization policies appear to be creating real results. Would similar approaches work in the United States? They might be worth considering, especially as the decades-long war on drugs doesn’t seem to be headed toward a truce any time soon.
