ABSTRACT

“The war on drugs and attempts at prohibition have failed.”

This statement frames virtually every public drug debate and is the core defence for pushing everything from the legalisation of recreational marijuana to every illicit drug… The ‘evidence’ to support these changes appear numerous but most often include the mention of Portugal’s drug policy. In 2001 this small European nation of nearly 10 million people decriminalised illicit drugs for personal use. Since then it has captivated media headlines and policy makers around the world as the poster nation for purportedly reducing drug use, decreasing overdose deaths and better public health outcomes.

What often gets missed in the hype is that while lobbyists vaguely talk about Portugal’s decriminalisation they are in fact advocating legalisation. But there’s a huge difference. Portugal did not make illicit drugs legal…Further, it did not alter the criminal penalty that prohibits the production, distribution and sale of drugs. Whereas, legalisation would not only remove every criminal penalty associated with using and trafficking but also give governments a stake in the regulation, production and taxing of illicit drugs.”…