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View Full Version : Portugal's success with decriminalizing drug use



Atlanteax
07-13-2015, 01:18 PM
http://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening


In 2001, the Portuguese government did something that the United States would find entirely alien. After many years of waging a fierce war on drugs, it decided to flip its strategy entirely: It decriminalized them all.

If someone is found in the possession of less than a 10-day supply of anything from marijuana to heroin, he or she is sent to a three-person Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, typically made up of a lawyer, a doctor and a social worker. The commission recommends treatment or a minor fine; otherwise, the person is sent off without any penalty. A vast majority of the time, there is no penalty.

Fourteen years after decriminalization, Portugal has not been run into the ground by a nation of drug addicts. In fact, by many measures, it's doing far better than it was before.

http://images.mic.com/8budc1zmvbnjvnxi2pnjt8qbisvp3ctjahonch39ankt25shtu 6loxnvwseryl0m.jpg

http://images.mic.com/trly2yvtiwi9uz5ixabemtimx0minsihj37j0myrmcem33y6xs tz1y7fxortrdnd.jpg

(if people die from drug use, that is okay, just do not provide them with public healthcare on their prolonged death beds)