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Around the world, many countries have taken on the idea of treating drug use as a public health issue and not as a criminal offense. Not only has it saved them money but it has saved drug users lives, decreased non-drug related crime, and improved the country on many levels beyond drugs. Portugal is at the head of this movement, the country decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and has seen outstanding results. As far as usage and health, Portugal’s results have been a great success, as seen in the charts below. Just 14 years after decriminalization, a world of benefits has come about. Since decriminalization, Portugal has seen no major increases in drug use, fewer people arrested and incarcerated for drugs, and has more people receiving drug treatment than ever. In addition to this, there are reduced cases of HIV, problematic and adolescent drug use, drug-induced deaths, and reduced social costs of drug misuse.
To further their success in decreasing drug use, Portugal shifted drug control from the Justice department to a public health system for treating hard drug addiction. This is the strongest step in lowering drug use, treating it as a public safety and public health issue. Having a health-centered approach toward drug use is what has made Portugal’s decriminalization so successful. With the sums of money saved on enforcement, increased programs and treatment has enabled these policies to reduce supply and demand of drugs, while increasing prevention, harm reduction, and social reintegration for addicts.
- In the above graph, you can find information on the prevalence of drug use in Portugal since drugs were decriminalized in 2001. Lifetime prevalence refers to the percentage of people who report having used a drug at some point in their life, past-year prevalence refers to those who have used drugs in the past year, and past-month, drug use in the past month.
To further their success in decreasing drug use, Portugal shifted drug control from the Justice department to a public health system for treating hard drug addiction. This is the strongest step in lowering drug use, treating it as a public safety and public health issue. Having a health-centered approach toward drug use is what has made Portugal’s decriminalization so successful. With the sums of money saved on enforcement, increased programs and treatment has enabled these policies to reduce supply and demand of drugs, while increasing prevention, harm reduction, and social reintegration for addicts.
- As you can see below, the rate of continued drug use since decriminalization in Portugal was nearly half of what it was in 2001 just three years ago.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance, which operates out of New York City, between 1998 and 2011, incredible statistics prove that the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal has been an astounding success. Their studies, along with other independent studies from organizations such as the United States Office on Drugs and Crime have reported these remarkable results.
• Rates of illicit drug use have declined since 2001
• Problematic and adolescent drug use is lowest in the European Union, below countries with punitive policies
• The number of people arrested and tried for drug offenses is down by more than 60%
• Prison populations have been reduced by 20%
• The overall quantity of drug seizures by Portuguese police has increased
• The amount of people in drug treatment has increased by 60% (from 23,600 to 38,000
• New HIV cases have fallen from 1,575 to 78
• New AIDS cases declined from 626 to 74
• The number of deaths due to overdose decreased from 80 in 2001 to 16 in 2012
• Per capita social cost of drug misuse decreased by 18 percent
• Rates of illicit drug use have declined since 2001
• Problematic and adolescent drug use is lowest in the European Union, below countries with punitive policies
• The number of people arrested and tried for drug offenses is down by more than 60%
• Prison populations have been reduced by 20%
• The overall quantity of drug seizures by Portuguese police has increased
• The amount of people in drug treatment has increased by 60% (from 23,600 to 38,000
• New HIV cases have fallen from 1,575 to 78
• New AIDS cases declined from 626 to 74
• The number of deaths due to overdose decreased from 80 in 2001 to 16 in 2012
• Per capita social cost of drug misuse decreased by 18 percent
- Portugal is the only country shown that has decriminalized drugs, and is the only country that showed a decrease in HIV infection rates between 2006 and 2012.