Drug Decriminalization in Portugal
Glenn Greenwald wrote:
On July 1, 2001, a nationwide law in Portugal took effect that
decriminalized all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Under the new
legal framework, all drugs were "decriminalized," not "legalized."
Thus, drug possession for personal use and drug usage itself are still
legally prohibited, but violations of those prohibitions are deemed to
be exclusively administrative violations and are removed completely
from the criminal realm. Drug trafficking continues to be prosecuted as
a criminal offense.
While other states in the European Union
have developed various forms of de facto decriminalization — whereby
substances perceived to be less serious (such as cannabis) rarely lead
to criminal prosecution — Portugal remains the only EU member state
with a law explicitly declaring drugs to be "decriminalized." Because
more than seven years have now elapsed since enactment of Portugal's
decriminalization system, there are ample data enabling its effects to
be assessed.
Notably, decriminalization has become increasingly
popular in Portugal since 2001. Except for some far-right politicians,
very few domestic political factions are agitating for a repeal of the
2001 law. And while there is a widespread perception that bureaucratic
changes need to be made to Portugal's decriminalization framework to
make it more efficient and effective, there is no real debate about
whether drugs should once again be criminalized. More significantly,
none of the nightmare scenarios touted by preenactment
decriminalization opponents — from rampant increases in drug usage
among the young to the transformation of Lisbon into a haven for "drug
tourists" — has occurred.
The political consensus in favor of
decriminalization is unsurprising in light of the relevant empirical
data. Those data indicate that decriminalization has had no adverse
effect on drug usage rates in Portugal, which, in numerous categories,
are now among the lowest in the EU, particularly when compared with
states with stringent criminalization regimes. Although
postdecriminalization usage rates have remained roughly the same or
even decreased slightly when compared with other EU states,
drug-related pathologies — such as sexually transmitted diseases and
deaths due to drug usage — have decreased dramatically. Drug policy
experts attribute those positive trends to the enhanced ability of the
Portuguese government to offer treatment programs to its citizens —
enhancements made possible, for numerous reasons, by decriminalization.
This
report will begin with an examination of the Portuguese
decriminalization framework as set forth in law and in terms of how it
functions in practice. Also examined is the political climate in
Portugal both pre- and postdecriminalization with regard to drug
policy, and the impetus that led that nation to adopt decriminalization.
Glenn
Greenwald is a constitutional lawyer and a contributing writer at
Salon. He has authored several books, including A Tragic Legacy (2007)
and How Would a Patriot Act? (2006).
The report then assesses
Portuguese drug policy in the context of the EU's approach to drugs.
The varying legal frameworks, as well as the overall trend toward
liberalization, are examined to enable a meaningful comparative
assessment between Portuguese data and data from other EU states.
The
report also sets forth the data concerning drug-related trends in
Portugal both pre- and postdecriminalization. The effects of
decriminalization in Portugal are examined both in absolute terms and
in comparisons with other states that continue to criminalize drugs,
particularly within the EU.
The data show that, judged by
virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has
been a resounding success. Within this success lie self-evident lessons
that should guide drug policy debates around the world.
