Portugal’s Quiet Victory
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 11:00 am | By: MrSpof
“I think it’s bizarrely underappreciated what’s been done in Portugal,” said Salon writer Glenn Greenwald, who authored the report. Greenwald, who speaks fluent Portuguese, traveled to Portugal in 2008 to study the affects of drug decriminalization in the country.
Because drugs were not legalized outright in Portugal, violations of laws prohibiting drug possession for personal usage are now merely treated as administrative offenses and carry with them no criminal charges. Drug trafficking, however, continues to be prosecuted as a criminal offense in the country.
Greenwald said the strongest evidence in Portugal that supports drug decriminalization is the declining usage of drugs in the crucial 15-19 age group.
In every single drug category, with the exception of the new drugs that have come into popular usage since 2001, like ketamine and GHB, teen drug use has declined. The biggest drug category declines were seen in marijuana, which saw teen drug use slip from just over 10 percent in 2001 to 6 percent in 2006.
“Drug policymakers are ecstatic about this,” Greenwald said.
via – TheRawStory “Portugal’s drug decriminalization ‘bizarrely underappreciated’: Greenwald“
Decriminalization is an incremental step that does not place control of marijuana under state and federal regulation and oversight. It also does not remove marijuana revenue from drug traffickers as the product is still illegal. That said, the statistics quoted in the article are pretty damned eye opening. Even with the marijuana market unregulated, teen use still declined in this category and all other ‘traditional’ drugs like cocaine and heroin.
At the Stash, we try to remind readers that while marijuana prohibition is rooted in racism and ignorance and that it is morally and Constitutionally wrong, legislators respond well to being shown evidence that that trying new directions in drug policy can be fruitful. Greenwald continues:
Topics: Glenn Greenwald, PortugalGreenwald said supporters of decriminalization in the U.S. have an “ideal moment” to talk about it as the political mood regarding decriminalization is now shifting in favor of reform.
Because there has been little debate on empirical grounds, which are verifiable and provable, on why drugs should stay criminalized, the “extremely unexamined” assumption that decriminalization would result in a massive increase of drug usage has become widespread and generally accepted, Greenwald said.
But with the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal, drug reformers can now point to empirical evidence that demonstrates that decriminalization has positive affects.
