World Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal

[The Helper]

Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Fortunately, we have a real-world example of the actual effects of ending the violent, expensive War on Drugs and replacing it with a system of treatment for problem users and addicts.

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half:

Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal’s decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.

“There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal,” said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law.

Read more about it here.

 

[Ghan]

This is no different than Prohibition in the US, really. When alcohol was banned, violent crime went way up. Bootlegging, and the like. You might have heard of it.
When we repealed that, guess what? No more reason to smuggle in booze....

 

[YourFace]

This is no different than Prohibition in the US, really. When alcohol was banned, violent crime went way up. Bootlegging, and the like. You might have heard of it.
When we repealed that, guess what? No more reason to smuggle in booze....

They're abusing drugs though, while alcohol was just a form of entertainment.

 

[xPass]

This proves that humans love rebellion! :O

 

[Glorn2]

They're abusing drugs though, while alcohol was just a form of entertainment.

Because in America, it is a fact that drugs cause more social and economical problems than alcohol.

Ohh wait, I too just made a completely wrong statement.

This proves that spending hundreds of millions of dollars on helping addicts and regulating drugs, can accomplish a lot more than tens of billions of dollars spend on trying to stop it altogether (and failing).

 

[Ninja_sheep]

I feel stupid for never having heard about this before.

 

[FireCat]

Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse.

But how many are untreated? 60,000? Or Moar?

 

[Accname]

But how many are untreated? 60,000? Or Moar?

Does that matter?
In other countries they would go to jail rather then being treated at all.
40.000 which are getting treatment is better then 0 and that is what counts.

Those who dont get help would not be getting any help in any other way.

 

[FireCat]

Does that matter? 40.000 which are getting treatment is better then 0 and that is what counts..

Yes, It does matter! Anyway How long will the treatment last?

 

[DDRtists]

They're abusing drugs though, while alcohol was just a form of entertainment.

What do you mean? When I eat, snort, or smoke a drug, it is purely for entrainment purposes, not just as a crutch or to abuse them like everyone seems to think people use them for. Me and my "druggy friends" do drugs at events or parties, which then makes the event way way better (to us, at least. To each their own, I don't condone drug use to other people). Cocaine, MDMA, and the likes are way more of an "entertainment drug" than alcohol ever is, so I'm going to have to completely disagree with you here. The only difference is that hard drugs are far more addictive than alcohol ever will be. So their "solution"? If you do drugs, you don't deserve freedom, despite doing nothing to anyone but yourself, so off to jail for a long time!

And all the crime associated with "drugs" isn't from the drugs themselves, it's from prohibition. If I could just walk to the store and buy an eight-ball of coke instead of having to hit up one of my PoS dealers and possibly getting a laced substance that is unregulated and thus laced with poison or other potentially dangerous chemicals that are more dangerous than the cocaine themselves, I wouldn't have to worry about if I'm getting what I'm told I am. Crime? The world is ran on the concept of supply and demand. When the demand is high for something and your supply is being attacked and thus your income is being hurt, you have to protect it. If we would just regulate drugs, we wouldn't have to deal with shitty 15 year olds sligging laced coke out of their parents houses. When all you have is the ability to produce a product and that product is made illegal, because certain people can't do it, you lose everything. That was forced on the cartels and the world BECAUSE of prohibition. If we would have just been like "Hey guys, this is what these drugs do, if you wanna do them, thats your shit. Heres help if you do, however", most of the crime and shit probably wouldn't exist.

This proves that spending hundreds of millions of dollars on helping addicts and regulating drugs, can accomplish a lot more than tens of billions of dollars spend on trying to stop it altogether (and failing).

Spending money on trying to stop it?! A lot of the worlds heroin comes from Afghanistan, and during the entire war, the US military was protecting the Afghan opium fields so they weren't destroyed! Working on stopping drug trafficking my ass..
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/world/asia/21marja.html?pagewanted=all
http://publicintelligence.net/usnato-troops-patrolling-opium-poppy-fields-in-afghanistan/

But how many are untreated? 60,000? Or Moar?

If they don't want "help", they don't wan't help. What do you define as "treated"? A complete lack of drug addictions? It will NEVER happen to ANYONE that ever does a drug. You can not get those feelings and everything from anything in sober reality. The people that are "living clean" now are doing it completely mentally. If you've done drugs and had a good time on them, the visons and memories are still there exactly as it happened, on drugs. You can't just forget them, and thinking about them doesn't make you mentally go "I want to do drugs!". Your body remembers how it feels, and it is much more than the thought of wanting drugs.

It's all about moderation. If you have the mental ability to not do them all the time, why is it any different than having a drink or having a smoke with someone? Why does anyone have the right to tell me what I can or can't put into my body? I promise you, I could be on almost any drug other than MDMA in public and you wouldn't really know unless you knew what to look for. MDMA you can't much, because it makes you look like you're having a seizure, so it's obvious. So me being on cocaine at the club isn't going to affect anyone but me, leave me alone.

Yes, It does matter! Anyway How long will the treatment last?

So in your mind, unless we can cure everyone, curing a little bit of them isn't worth it? How long do you expect it to last?