“Portugal’s drug policy needs to be compared to what has successfully worked in Australia – our Tough on Drugs policy from 1998 to 2007. Australia’s Tough on Drugs reduced the use of all illicit drugs by 39% between 1998 and 2007. It reduced opiate overdose deaths by 67%. Portugal decriminalised all drugs in July 2001. By 2007, use of any illicit drug had risen by 9%. This was followed by decreases in drug use by 2012, in line with decreases in other European countries. By 2017 though, drug use was 59% HIGHER than in 2001. This represents a failure in Portugal’s drug policy.”