6. Drug Possession No Longer a Crime in Portugal
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/193.html#portugalpossession In the latest sign of European rejection of US and UN-sponsored
repressive anti-drug strategies, Portugal's new drug laws went
into effect on July 1. Under the laws, debated last summer and
finalized in November, possession of personal amounts of any drug
is no longer a crime. Instead, possession of up to a ten-day
supply of any drug will be treated as an administrative matter
rather than a criminal offense. Persons caught possessing drugs
will have their stashes confiscated and be referred to a
commission of doctors, lawyers, and social workers who will
decide if they need counseling or treatment. Previously, persons
caught with drugs faced up to a year in jail.
Drug trafficking remains a crime, although dealing to pay for a
drug habit will be considered a mitigating factor.
United Nations International Drug Control Board (INCB) officials
immediately lashed out at the new law. INCB Deputy Head Akira
Fujino told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet: "There is a
clear trend in Western Europe to decriminalize use and possession
of narcotics and to view addicts as patients. But that seldom
solves the addict's personal problems nor reduces the demand for
narcotics," complained the prohibition bureaucrat. "Other
countries that have chosen a liberal approach such as special
injection rooms, are Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Holland, and
we are deeply concerned over this trend."
Citing the possibility of a spill-over effect for the rest of the
European Union, Fujino warned that: "The Portugese law can trap
more 'at risk' into dependency as well as increase the misery of
those already addicted. The law, in effect, says that it's OK to
consume narcotics."
Portuguese officials have more concrete concerns. The number of
hard drug addicts has escalated over the past decade, and
Portugal has Europe's highest HIV infection rate. According to
the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction
(
http://www.emcdda.org), Portugal, with a population of ten
million, has between 50,000 and 200,000 drug addicts. By
contrast, the Netherlands, with 16 million inhabitants and a
liberal drug policy, has an estimated 25,000 addicts.
The new law reflects Portugal's turn to harm reduction and away
from repression in an effort to blunt the damage from drug
prohibition. "The idea is to get away from punishment and move
toward care," Portuguese government spokesman Carlos Borges told
Reuters.
That Portugal has decriminalized the possession of drugs is
apparently not newsworthy in the US. DRCNet has been unable to
find any mention of this story in mainstream media outlets in
this country.
(See DRCNet's previous coverage of Portugal's drug policy reform
at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/145.html#portugal online.)