Alethea B

Should We Decriminalize Illicit Drugs?

QUOTE:

“There is substantial clinical evidence that opioid maintenance treatment has proven efficacy in reducing opioid consumption, psychosocial and medical morbidity and in increasing treatment retention rates and social functioning in opioid addicts also in the long run” Six-Year Outcome of Opioid Maintenance Treatment in Heroin-Dependent Patients: Results from a Naturalistic Study in a Nationally Representative Sample, p.g. 103

Notes Document

Bibliographic Information:

Author: Tiago S. Cabral

Title of article or book: The 15th anniversary of the Portuguese drug policy: Its history, its success and its future Vol 3

Title of publication (if article in, or journal):   Drug Science, Policy and Law

Page numbers (if article in magazine, newspaper, or journal): 1-5

Publisher:      Sage

Date published: 2017

URL (if applicable): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2050324516683640

Paraphrased Notes: Include Page #s:

  • There are still fines for possession of drugs for personal use, but they’re quite small; 25-530 (1)

  • You can have more serious penalties, such as being banned from certain places or activities (1)

  • After being caught, they are sent to the “comissão para a dissuasão da toxicodependência”, which focuses on preventing addiction. If the user is found to have a drug problem, it is recommended that they seek treatment (not required). If they choose to get help, they hold off on penalties, and if the person does not have a repeating offense, they will not have to pay the fine(2)

  • The fear that it would become a drug destination didn’t happen (2)

  • Since decriminalizing, more people sought out treatment (3)

  • Its thought that people who use drugs are suffering from an illness, not criminals (3)

  • The difference between decriminalization and legalization is that legalizing drugs would mean that the sale of drugs is not criminal. Decriminalizing in Portugal made it so that using drugs was no longer defined as criminal if you chose to receive medical treatment. (4)

Direct quotes: Include Page #s:

  • “The mission of the committee accurately reflects the spirit of the Portuguese law, the user is not a criminal but a citizen who suffers from an illness and must be helped” (2)

  • “The number of cases of HIV and AIDS in drug users also decreased… , and the number of deaths by drug overdose stabilized. The number of deaths by drug overdose in Portugal is actually one of the lowest in all of the European Union”(2)

  • “Thus, the Portuguese results are in line with the scientific studies that suggest criminalization is not an effective deterrent to drug use”(3)

  • “The social cost of the consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances decreased 18% since the adoption of the decriminalization policy, resulting in considerable savings for a country with notorious economic problems”(3)

Summary of Source (2-4 sentences):

After Portugal decriminalized drugs, there were fewer cases of HIV, fewer overdoses, and more people seeking treatment. The system provides an option to get treatment after you’re caught in possession or using where if you don’t choose to get help, then you have to pay a fine/face worse consequences.

Does this help me answer my question? Why or why not?:

Yes, after decriminalizing and focusing on mental health, the country saw fewer overdoses and fewer cases of drug harms.

Lingering Questions:

How do other countries incentivize treatment/ if they don’t, how do they get people into treatment?

Connections to other sources:

Similar to the Netherlands, after decriminalizing and focusing on the mental health aspect of addiction, there were fewer cases of overdose and other drug harms.

JRPS, Division 4Betsy Goldman