Portugal, once lauded for decriminalizing drug possession, is now mired in addiction and social decay..Anthony Faiola and Catarina Fernandesgave Washington Post readers' snapshots of the port city of Porto in their July 7, 2023 article, “Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts.”.“Addiction haunts the recesses of this ancient port city, as people with gaunt, clumsy hands lift crack pipes to lips, syringes to veins. Authorities are sealing off warren-like alleyways with iron bars and fencing in parks to halt the spread of encampments. A siege mentality is taking root in nearby enclaves of pricey condos and multimillion-euro homes,” reads the catchy opener..“But given existing laws, there’s only so much they can do. On a recent afternoon, an emaciated man in striped pants sleeping in front of a state-funded drug-use centre awoke to a patrol of four officers. He sat up, then defiantly began assembling his crack pipe. Officers walked on, shaking their heads,” the reporters wrote..“The police have their hands tied,” said António Leitão da Silva, chief of Municipal Police of Porto..Rui Moreira, Porto’s mayor, said the current approach is backward. .“These days in Portugal, it is forbidden to smoke tobacco outside a school or a hospital. It is forbidden to advertise ice cream and sugar candies. And yet, it is allowed…to be there, injecting drugs,” said Moreira..“We’ve normalized it.”.In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the purchase and possession of ten-day supplies of all drugs. Consumption remained technically illegal, but penalties were fines, not time in jail. Police could register users for “dissuasion commissions” but could not force attendance..The results were lauded in a 2009 report by the CATO Institute. By 2008, prison populations had dropped 16.5%, and HIV transmission via syringes was way down. No surge in drug use was evident then, but it is now. .A national survey found 12.8% of adults have used illicit drugs, up from 7.8% in 2001. Opioid use is worse than in Germany. Overdoses are now at 12-year highs, and sewage samples find cocaine and ketamine at the highest levels in Europe, especially on weekends..Collection of drug-related debris rose 24% between 2021 and 2022. Robberies in public spaces spiked 14%..Keith Humphreys, former US senior drug policy adviser, and a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, said alleged benefits of decriminalization don’t last..“When you first back off enforcement, there are not many people walking over the line that you’ve removed. And the public think it’s working really well,” he said..“Then word gets out that there’s an open market, limits to penalties, and you start drawing in more drug users. Then you’ve got a more stable drug culture, and, frankly, it doesn’t look as good anymore.”.Urban visibility of Portugal’s drug problem is as bad as it was before decriminalization, documented by the article’s photographs and accounts..In a tourist quarter, a government-funded non-profit, SAOM, hands out syringe packages to heroin users without offering any influence to curb drug use, and does the same with crack pipes when they’re available..Luísa Neves, SAOM’s president, said, “You have to respect the user. If they want to use, it is their right.”.A stated-funded drug use centre opened a block away from police headquarters to give people with cocaine and heroin a less public place to use..Post journalists found a 47-year-old man shooting up a speedball there straight into his neck under nurse supervision because his other veins had “dried up.” He drove 90 minutes to get there because he did not dare shoot up at home..João Goulão, who heads Portugal’s national institute on drug use and the architect of decriminalization, told local press in December that “what we have today no longer serves as an example to anyone.” He told The Washington Post, “But we have had a kind of disinvestment, a freezing in our response … and we lost some efficacy.”.Funding for treatment dropped from 76 million euros to 16 million euros, prompting the government to outsource. Whereas 1,150 users were in programs in 2015, just 352 participated in 2021..Programs have a year-long waiting list, despite a “dramatic” fall in those waiting for help, leaving police less motivated to register those who misuse drugs..Some places are going the opposite direction..Amsterdam, long famous for pot cafes, introduced a ban on smoking marijuana in public places in June..Meanwhile, the US state of Oregon is taking the Portuguese path. As the reporters noted, “Police have shown little interest in handing out toothless citations for drug use, grants for treatment have lagged, and extremely few people are seeking voluntary rehabilitation..Meanwhile, overdoses this year in Portland…have surged 46%.”.BC received a three-year federal exemption from criminal charges for possession of all drugs beginning January 31, 2023.
