Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jul 2015
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830

PORTUGAL'S LESSON IN LEGALIZATION

This month marks 14 years since Portugal decriminalized the purchase, 
possession and use of all drugs  even cocaine and heroin. As 
Californians consider joining Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington 
state and Washington, D.C., in legalizing the recreational use of 
marijuana, Portugal's experience is instructive in setting realistic 
expectations and assuaging fears surrounding legalization.

Portugal saw a significant increase in drug use and abuse following 
the 1974 overthrow of its nearly 50-year authoritarian military 
dictatorship, as Portuguese returned from the country's overseas colonies.

The epidemic reached its peak during the mid-1990s, and the country 
turned to decriminalization in 2000 (with the law going into effect 
in July 2001) largely out of desperation since law enforcement 
approaches had proven to be failures.

While drug smuggling and dealing remain serious offenses, drug use 
and the possession of a small amount of drugs are treated as 
administrative infractions, not subject to criminal law procedures or 
jail time.

As with drug warriors in the U.S., critics painted dire pictures of 
skyrocketing usage among young people and turning the capital city of 
Lisbon into a haven for drug tourists. In the 14 years since 
decriminalization, neither has proven to be the case. In fact, drug 
usage rates have remained about the same or even declined slightly 
they have even declined for teenagers  and are now among the lowest 
in the European Union.

Portugal has also seen significant public health benefits from 
decriminalization. The number of cases of blood-borne sexually 
transmitted diseases such as HIV, which can be spread by sharing drug 
needles, is down significantly among drug users.

Since decriminalization, drug-induced deaths have dropped a 
staggering 80 percent, from 80 in 2001 to 16 in 2012, according to 
the Economist. During this period, the number of heroin addicts was 
cut in half, from 100,000 to 50,000. Portugal now has the 
second-lowest drug-overdose death rate in the EU, at just 3 per 
1,000,000 citizens, compared with the EU average of 17.3 per million.

This is encouraging news for the ongoing efforts to legalize 
recreational marijuana use in California, as are recent polls. A June 
Public Policy Institute of California poll showed a record-high 54 
percent of Californians, and 56 percent of likely voters, support 
legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

As Portugal's experience as shown, removing the fear of prosecution 
and treating drug abuse as a health issue, rather than a criminal 
issue, encourages drug users to seek help if they have a problem, 
thus improving public health while allowing others the freedom to use 
drugs responsibly.

Legalization would also remove the criminal element that operates the 
current illicit drug trade and free up police, corrections and 
judicial resources to focus on true crimes.

California should welcome legalization, and then resist its seemingly 
irresistible urge to strangle the industry, and curtail the benefits 
of legalization, through taxes and regulations.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom