What are the results of Portugal decriminalizing drugs?
A 2015 study found that since Portugal approved the new national strategy in 1999 that led to decriminalization, the per capita social cost of drug misuse decreased by 18%.
Has Portugal decriminalized drugs worked?
Portugal was not the first country to decriminalise some or all drugs, and it has not been the last. However, it is one of the most prominent and influential. The Portuguese model directly influenced the 2020 decriminalisation measure passed in Oregon, for example, as well as proposed decriminalisation in Norway.
What is Portugal’s policy on drugs?
Portugal decriminalized the public and private use, acquisition, and possession of all drugs in 2000; adopting an approach focused on public health rather than public-order priorities.
When were drugs decriminalized Portugal?
July 2001
In July 2001, Portugal decriminalized the personal use and possession of all illicit drugs.
Which countries have legalized drugs?
Portugal is the first country that has decriminalized the possession of small amounts of drugs, to positive results. Anyone caught with any type of drug in Portugal, if it is for personal consumption, will not be imprisoned.
What Decriminalisation means?
Decriminalisation. Decriminalisation takes away the status of criminal law from those acts to which it is applied. This means that certain acts no longer constitute criminal offences. With regard to drugs, it is usually used to refer to demand; acts of acquisition, possession and consumption.
What’s legal in Portugal?
Basically, yes. In 2001, Portugal became the first European country to decriminalise the possession of drugs. Since then, anyone can carry up to 10 doses of any drug on their person, from hashish to MDMA (ecstacy), cocaine and even heroin. Drug-related crimes and deaths have since decreased.
