Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2001
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2001 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact:  http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83
Author: Otto Pohl
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

PORTUGAL SHIFTS AIM IN DRUG WAR

A new Law Focuses On Treating Drug Users, Rather Than Jailing Them.

When Alberto de Oliveria was stopped in the Lisbon metro recently, he 
feared the worst: Being caught with heroin could mean a return to 
jail. "I was afraid," he recalls. "But the police didn't arrest me. 
They just sent me to a drug commission that told me I needed 
treatment."

Mr. Oliveria is one of the first to benefit from a new law, in effect 
since July 1, that focuses on trying to rehabilitate drug users. 
Portugal has become the first European country to decriminalize the 
use - but not sale - of all drugs, from cannabis to crack cocaine.

The change solidifies a significant shift away from the punitive 
approach in socially conservative Portugal, where a consensus had 
formed that criminalizing drug use was a failed policy. In enacting 
the new legislation, Portugal mirrors attitudes in more liberal Spain 
and Italy, which, instead of imposing criminal punishment on drug 
use, have historically limited the punishment to fines and other 
administrative sanctions, such as enrollment in a drug-treatment 
program.

Danilo Ballotta, a drug-law specialist at the Lisbon-based European 
Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, says the recent 
changes in Portugal reflect a European movement to treat the use of 
drugs as a health - rather than a criminal - issue.

"Even in those countries where there is strict legislation, there 
seems to be a movement towards more progressive legislation," Mr. 
Ballotta says.

Previously in Portugal, those possessing or consuming small amounts 
of drugs faced up to one year in jail, although that law was rarely 
enforced. The police had stopped arresting suspects, and the courts 
were throwing out cases against users rather than apply legislation 
that sent them to prison.

Now, for possession of heroin, de Oliveria is enrolled in a methadone 
clinic, trying to kick his 20-year heroin addiction.

"We see that prohibition has failed," says Vitalino Canas, Portugal's 
drug czar. But he is quick to say that the country has not gone soft 
on drugs. "We are not liberalizing nor legalizing drugs. But those 
that use them shouldn't go to jail. Users are sick people. Only if 
they do not accept treatment will we impose administrative 
sanctions." The sanctions include fines of up to several hundred 
dollars and public service.

Removing drug users from the criminal justice system will allow 
Portuguese police to turn more energy toward catching those 
importing, dealing, and possessing large quantities of narcotics. 
"Traffickers are our enemy," says Canas, "and now we can focus our 
efforts on them."

Portugal is considered to be one of the main gateways for drugs 
entering Europe. Addiction rates are among the highest in Europe, 
with an estimated 80,000 heroin addicts in a population of 10 
million. The Netherlands, by comparison, has about 25,000 in a 
population of 16 million. To help addicts, and to crack down harder 
on traffickers, Portugal is raising its drugs-fighting budget to 
$104.5 million, up from $34 million in 1995.

Critics of the new law say it will make the situation in the country 
worse. "There will be planeloads of students headed for the Algarve 
to smoke marijuana," Paulo Portas, the head of the opposition Popular 
Party, warned as the law was passed.

Authorities claim there is no evidence of "drug tourists" yet, and 
Portugal has no intention of becoming Europe's drug-party haven. 
Holland is still significantly more liberal in practice.

In Portugal, a newly established drug commission determines what will 
happen to a user detained by police. Marijuana smokers not deemed at 
risk for harder drugs, for example, are dismissed with a warning, 
while those addicted to harder drugs are sent to treatment centers. 
If the commission's recommendations are ignored, or in cases of 
repeat offenses, administrative sanctions are imposed, including 
fines up to the equivalent of one minimum monthly wage, suspension of 
the right to travel abroad, or a requirement of public service. The 
user can also be banned from a profession or location if he presents 
a danger to others.

So far, the modest number of cases suggest that police are choosing 
to enforce the law only occasionally. The commission in Lisbon has 
seen an average of about three cases per day.

Portugal has also passed another law aimed at treating users. In the 
Lisbon neighborhood of Curraleira, where trash tangles with weeds 
around weathered public housing, a bus dispensing free methadone 
began making runs three weeks ago. Addicts line up in the gray of an 
early Saturday morning for their daily dose.

Luis Ferreira, a thin man with a scraggly beard and matted hair, 
hopes that joining the methadone treatment will allow him to kick his 
five-year addiction. "I was begging in the train stations" to get 
enough money for heroin, he said. "Now I have a chance to take charge 
of my life."

When the methadone bus first pulled into the neighborhood, dealers 
threw stones and yelled at the staff, says the nurse on duty. "They 
are afraid we will take away their customers."
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