None of the fears promulgated by opponents of Portuguese decriminalization has
come to fruition, whereas many of the benefits
predicted by drug policymakers from instituting a decriminalization regime have been realized.
While drug addiction, usage, and associated pathologies continue to skyrocket in many
EU states, those problems—in virtually every relevant category—have been either contained or
measurably improved within Portugal since
2001. In certain key demographic segments,
drug usage has decreased in absolute terms in the
decriminalization framework, even as usage across
the EU continues to increase, including in those
states that continue to take the hardest line in
criminalizing drug possession and usage.
By freeing its citizens from the fear of prosecution and imprisonment for drug usage,
Portugal has dramatically improved its ability
to encourage drug addicts to avail themselves of
treatment. The resources that were previously
devoted to prosecuting and imprisoning drug
addicts are now available to provide treatment
programs to addicts. Those developments,
along with Portugal’s shift to a harm-reduction
approach, have dramatically improved drugrelated social ills, including drug-caused mortalities and drug-related disease transmission.
Ideally, treatment programs would be strictly
voluntary, but Portugal’s program is certainly
preferable to criminalization.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/green ... epaper.pdfDET er fandme trist. Lol fordi den rapport ikke kom i medierne.
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