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Connolly, Johnny Reports examine effects of decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal. Drugnet Ireland, Issue 30, Summer , pp. Portugal became the first country in the European Union to decriminalise all drugs, including cocaine and heroin, under a statue passed in Drug trafficking continues to be prosecuted as a criminal offence. The law, according to a report commissioned by the Beckley Foundation,2 'formed part of a strategic approach to drug use which aimed to focus police resources on those people who profit from the drugs trade, while enabling a public health approach to drug users' p. A recent analysis of the legal reforms by the US-based Cato Institute3 has concluded that 'judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success' p. Repository Staff Only: item control page. Skip to main content Link to Health Research Board twitter page, opens in new window Link to Health Research Board r s s feed, opens in new window drugslibrary hrb. Preview Title Contact Preview. Although several EU states have developed either formal or de facto forms of de-penalisation, particularly for personal cannabis use, whereby offenders seldom receive custodial sanctions, no EU state except Portugal has explicitly decriminalised drugs. Under the statute, decriminalisation applies to the consumption, purchase and possession of all drugs for 'one's own consumption', which is defined as a quantity 'not exceeding the quantity required for an average individual consumption during a period of ten days' Article 2. No distinction is made between drug types or between public and private consumption. The statute establishes Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction CDTs to adjudicate and impose appropriate sanctions for violations of the new law. The CDTs comprise three members appointed jointly by the ministries of justice and health and the government's co-ordinator of drug policy, whereby one will have legal training and at least one of the other two will have a medical or social services background. In the absence of evidence of addiction or repeated violations, the imposition of a fine is to be suspended. The CDT can also suspend sanctions on condition that the offender attends treatment. The Cato report points out that it is difficult to enforce such conditions in practice 'since violations of a commission's rulings are not, themselves, infractions of any law' p. Where offenders are deemed to be addicted to drugs, the CDT can impose a range of other sanctions, including, as summarised in the Cato report, 'suspension of the right to practise a licensed profession doctor, lawyer, taxi driver ; a ban on visiting high-risk locales nightclubs ; a ban on associating with specified individuals; In determining the appropriate sanction, the CDT must consider factors such as 'the seriousness of the act; the type of drug consumed; whether consumption was public or private; and whether usage is occasional or habitual' p. However, providing drugs to a minor or to a person with mental illness is considered an aggravating factor under the general prohibition of trafficking, which is punishable by imprisonment of between four and 12 years. Police officers who observe drug use or possession are required to issue citations to the offender, but they are not permitted to make an arrest. The citation is sent to the CDT and the administrative process then commences. The Cato report notes that the reaction of police officers to the initiative has been mixed, with some believing that 'the issuance of citations, without arrest or the threat of criminal prosecutions, is worthless' p. The Beckley Foundation report described the nature of the support for the latter view:. The law enforcement sector was seen as supportive of the reform, particularly because they perceived decriminalization and referral to education and treatment as offering a better response to drug users than under the previous legislative approach. Key informants asserted law enforcement have embraced the more preventative role for drug users. Cannabis continues to be the substance for which the greatest percentage of drug offenders are cited. Despite fears expressed by those opposing the reform prior to , decriminalisation has not led to an increase in drug use. On the contrary, lifetime drug prevalence rates have decreased in Portugal since the reform. For the critical age groups of years and years, 'prevalence rates have declined for virtually every substance since decriminalization' p. Furthermore, the author links a fall in the numbers of new cases of drug-related HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B and C infection, and drug-related death to the coming into effect of the law in Although he acknowledges that these trends started prior to and were due in part to education reforms and harm reduction initiatives introduced in Portugal, he suggests that the removal of the fear and stigma of arrest and prosecution incentivised drug users to avail of these new treatment and education initiatives. The analysis by the Beckley Foundation sounds a more cautious note, which probably accurately reflects the current debate about decriminalisation in Portugal:. Decriminalization has enabled earlier intervention and more targeted and therapeutic responses to drug users, increased collaboration across a network of services and increased attention to adopting policies that work. Yet, key informants also highlighted that impacts were less than expected and that there were concerns over the message that decriminalization was sending to new drug users. Briefing paper Oxford: The Beckley Foundation. Available at www. Greenwald G Drug decriminalization in Portugal: lessons for creating fair and successful drug policies. Washington DC: Cato Institute. Item Type. Publication Type. International, Open Access, Article. Drug Type. Issue Title. Issue 30, Summer Page Range. Health Research Board. Accession Number. HRB Available.

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Challenges and Limitations

Portugal buying Heroin

This inquiry was informed not only by the evidence we heard from across the UK but also by visits to Lisbon and Frankfurt, where shifts in drug policy have resulted in dramatic reductions in the harm associated with drugs for both those who use them and their communities. We are now sharing what we heard during our visits in advance of publishing our recommendations. Please subscribe to our mailing list in order to be alerted to our full report on October 23 rd. We have since held 3 oral evidence sessions in Westminster, on the topics of harm reduction, prevention and early intervention, treatment and policing and criminal justice. The Committee sought written submissions on the health consequences of illicit drugs policy including on:. Health and harms What is the extent of health harms resulting from drug use? Prevention and early intervention What are the reasons for both the initial and the continued, sustained use of drugs? This refers to the wide spectrum of use, from high-risk use to the normalisation of recreational use. How effective and evidence-based are strategies for prevention and early intervention in managing and countering the drivers of use? This includes whether a whole-system approach is taken. Treatment and harm reduction How effective and evidence-based is treatment provision? This refers to both healthcare services and wider agencies, and the extent to which joined-up care pathways operate. Is policy is sufficiently geared towards treatment? This includes the extent to which health is prioritised, in the context of the Government's criminal justice-led approach. Best practice What would a high-quality, evidence-based response to drugs look like? In the s, the open drug scene had congregated in the Taunusanlage Park, near Frankfurt's central station. By the early s, people who used drugs living in the park numbered more than 1,; drug-related deaths in Frankfurt had rocketed to people in one year, and there were high rates of acquisitive crime. In , the park was closed and a needle exchange and police van were installed. In , the first legalised drug consumption room opened in Germany. In the s the average death of people using drugs was 25; it is now In , Portugal decriminalised the consumption and possession for personal use of all illicit drugs. The years following decriminalisation saw a sharp fall in problem drug use, rates of HIV which fell from We also discussed the cooperation between drug services and police, using the example of drug consumption rooms. Drug users bring their own drugs to consume, and are provided with: health care with doctors on site at specified times , prevention of infection, first aid in case of overdose, needle and syringe substitution, connection to other services, detoxication, substitution, drug counselling, therapy, medical treatment and rehab. People caught in possession of illicit drugs for personal use are referred to their regional CDT, which is responsible for evaluation, assessment, and where necessary, plan of treatment and follow up. Their main aim is to facilitate a viable healthy lifestyle following a comprehensive approach that tackles both the health and social issues related to drug use. People can also be referred to a CDT by doctors, social workers, family and friends or even do it on a voluntary basis. A person caught by the police in possession of drugs which cannot be considered as solely for personal use will not be referred to the CDT and criminal charges will be opened. We were introduced to the work of CRESCER, a non-governmental organisation, who work with vulnerable groups at risk of social exclusion. We are particularly grateful to CRESCER for giving us the opportunity to speak with people recovering from, or still struggling with, problem drug use, and to see first hand the difference their services are making; and especial thanks to the individuals themselves who bravely and kindly spoke to us, in some cases inviting us into their homes. At the end of the day we visited a mobile methadone van provided by Association Ares do Pinhal, at one of its regular sites, and learned first hand about the harm reduction services they provide. Finally, we had the opportunity to meet two Portuguese politicians - Ricardo Baptiste Leite and Ivan Goncalvez - to learn about how the public and political buy-in to make such dramatic changes was secured, and to hear about the challenges facing politicians working in this area today. At the time a criminal justice-focused approach predominated. The multidisciplinary nature of this group, which included a well-respected scientist, helped the committee to establish credibility with the public, and we heard that the public acceptance of the reform in a conservative country was largely due to the prevalence of problematic drug use, which was spread across all socio-economic groups — every family would care about or know someone who was addicted to drugs. A four-pillar approach was designed — incorporating prevention, crisis and survival, drug free programs, and law enforcement. We heard from the police about the cultural change that took place in thinking about drug addiction not as a crime but as an illness. We also heard about the reforms happening contemporaneously with the European Central Bank stationing its headquarters in the centre of Frankfurt, next to the park which was at the time housing drug users. The ECB provided funding, without which the reforms might not have been possible. We heard from the police that robberies have more than halved since institution of these changes. In Lisbon we heard that, with the radical reforms in the early s, establishing the health structures to provide a much greater offer of health care for people with problem drug use took time. It took over two years to expand health and care capacity sufficiently in terms of funding, workforce and infrastructure. The approach to drug education also changed - education programmes in schools in Portugal are factual, without moral judgement - risks are presented factually e. Having one central organisation responsible for bringing everything together, including both for funding and for leadership on drug policy, was seen as particularly helpful. In Lisbon, we heard about some of the challenges of DCRs, which we were told are useful for people who are homeless but are not generally used by people who already have an inside space in which they can take drugs. We also heard about the advantages of DCRs for the police: there is more security through less consumption in public; there is a central contact for police matters; there is less of a concentration of drug users in public places — which we heard has been associated with reductions in violence and drug-related crime. We also saw that drug use is more concentrated even in the street in the area of the DCR - when you create a DCR all of this market activity takes place in that area including prostitution etc. DCRs were recommended by the Committee in Portugal in but were not implemented. There has been a mobile consumption room since December in Lisbon, which we visited. We were told that since a big barrier to the opening of a DCR is that people often object to their placement in their residential area, a mobile facility is a helpful workaround. We visited a DCR which provides heroin assisted treatment HAT for people with the most problematic addiction to heroin. Diamorphine heroin is given to clients, and they inject it themselves. From there was a pilot project in several cities including Frankfurt which found a positive effect on health very early on and clear superiority of the heroin treatment in this group over methadone. There was also a decrease in cocaine use and in the rate of crime. HAT is now provided in 10 cities in Germany. We heard the successes of the approach in Portugal to decriminalisation of personal possession of drugs in Portugal with reported reductions in harm, crime and heroin use. In implementing the reforms post , the Portuguese government has moved spending from criminal justice to health. There has been a dramatic reduction in drug related deaths since , as well as anecdotal reports of reduced stigma. While drugs are still illegal to supply, people caught in possession now have a full risk assessment carried out by the CDT and are referred on to treatment where necessary, allowing early intervention and strengthening access to treatment. We were also told that generally people are now happier to call for an ambulance if a friend has accidentally overdosed. We heard that decriminalisation does not have an impact on access - people still cannot buy drugs legally, but if caught it is the person dealing, rather than the person buying drugs who would be arrested. But the whole package, and not just legislative change, is crucial. But we received a very clear message from all quarters that it would be a mistake to look at drugs policy just from a decriminalisation angle and that a comprehensive response is needed — we were told that the results would have been totally different without the holistic model implemented in Portugal post In Frankfurt , whilst Drug Consumption Rooms had clearly been part of relocating drug users from the city's park, we saw public consumption outside the DCRs we visited outside of their normal opening hours and in the streets around them. It was also pointed out by some of our hosts, as mentioned above, that a degree of the pressure to disperse the 'open drug scene' from the central park was due to the location of the European Central Bank, which provided funding - leading to questions about reproducibility of this approach elsewhere. We also discussed the variation in the offer of harm reduction and treatment in different states in Germany: we heard that Hesse has a much more expansive offer than neighbouring Bavaria, which has a higher rate of drug related deaths. We were told that drug users travel from Bavaria to Hesse predominantly Frankfurt to access drug services. This led to questions about the implications of differential drug policy in the different countries of the United Kingdom. In Lisbon many of the people we met spoke frankly about the challenges that still remain in Portugal, indicating that drugs are an ongoing problem, and that the current situation is still far from perfect. Detailed information from our inquiry can be found on our website. You can also follow our work on Twitter. The Health and Social Care Committee is a cross-party committee of MPs appointed by the House of Commons to examine the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department of Health and Social Care and its associated bodies. Scope of the inquiry. The Committee sought written submissions on the health consequences of illicit drugs policy including on: Health and harms What is the extent of health harms resulting from drug use? The Frankfurt way In the s, the open drug scene had congregated in the Taunusanlage Park, near Frankfurt's central station. Members outside Crescer. What we learned Reform - in the face of crisis. What we learned A public health approach. What we learned Harm reduction. What we learned Heroin Assisted Treatment. What we learned Decriminalisation. What we learned Challenges. What's next for the Drug Policy Inquiry? Our report, containing recommendations for the Government, will be published shortly. The Committee is extremely grateful to all those who organised and facilitated the visits to Frankfurt and Lisbon, and to those who contributed their time and expertise. Top Built with Shorthand.

Portugal buying Heroin