A new Time article entitled, “Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?” examines the practical theory of how decriminalization and use, when applied to a society properly, can have resounding success; and that is exactly what is being praised for the country of Portugal.

First, let me explain the Portugal model and put it into perspective. As we all know, with the exception of thirteen states that have medical Marijuana laws, the sale and cultivation of marijuana is illegal in the United States under both state laws and federal laws. The laws may vary from state to state, but typical first time possession varies from a civil fine to a year of incarceration.

Contrary to what one might hear in the news, in The Netherlands marijuana is also a crime. The difference in The Netherlands is the Dutch have decided not to enforce those laws because it’s in contrast what the people desire. However, when the Dutch decide to go after a particular grow operation or cannabis shop, they have full charge of the law behind them to do as they please.

The Portugal model is the only one of it’s kind in Europe because they were the first European country to remove all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs including marijuana. And they have been completely legal since 2001!

Portugal

Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal’s drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%.

The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%.

According to the Time article, a CATO study concludes that Portugal’s legalization program is a resounding success having reduced overall drug use, HIV cases, and cutting addiction rates by half across the board with all hard (addictive) drugs.

This is an extremely unique report because Portugal, unlike other countries, didn’t just “dabble” in decriminalization for a select group or demographic, they simply LEGALIZED EVERYTHING.

Currently in Portugal,

If an individual is caught in possession of a modest quantity of drugs (below ten daily doses), and police have no further suspicions or evidence that more serious offenses such as sale or traffic are involved, the drug will be seized and the case transmitted to a local Commission composed of 3 members (a lawyer, and two from a range of doctors, social assistants, and psychologists), supported by a technical team. The Commission meets the person in order to evaluate his/her situation and with the aim of eventually diverting the person from prosecution or sending them to treatment. If the user presents evidence that use is occasional or regular, but not habitual (addicted), the proceedings are dropped”.

By embracing the idea that a nation’s drug problem is a health and human services issue, not a law enforcement problem, Portugal helped to reallocate financial resources from law enforcement to address the underlying issues of the health effects of addiction. By doing so, Portugal removed the criminal element behind their illicit drug industry.

In contrast, The Netherlands still experiences a measurable amount of crime related to the illicit cannabis (Europeans refer to marijuana as cannabis) market because they still have laws against the manufacture and sale of cannabis. California also isn’t exempt, the state still sees crime as a result of marijuana being an illegal substance (federally and state without proper authorization). As long as the United States has a Prohibition in place, we will continue to battle cartels and crime on all fronts.

Although Portugal is a smaller country, initiatives like those Portugal put into place could also be put into place in this country within our communities.

Like removing a pot of boiling water from the stove; if you remove crime from Marijuana, you wouldn’t have any crime to fight.

Could Portugal’s solution serve as a model to the United States?

Recently, Senators Jim Webb and Arlen Specter proposed that Congress create a national commission, not unlike Portugal’s, to deal with prison reform and overhaul drug-sentencing policy. As Webb noted, the U.S. is home to 5% of the global population but 25% of it’s prisoners”.

Let me simplify Senator Jim Webb’s proposal:

It asks for a National Commission to discuss and propose policy for prison reform.

It’s that simple.

I think it’s finally time to have this conversation. Don’t you? Contact your representative and affirm your support for Senator Webb’s proposal today.

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Indeed, even within the United States, not all states have chosen the same path. Louisiana, the state with the highest incarceration rate, locks up more than six times as many of its residents on a per capita basis as Maine. Even neighboring states can differ dramatically – Wisconsin imprisons people at twice the rate of Minnesota, and Arizona’s rate is more than double Utah’s. These state-by-state differences make clear that there is nothing natural or inevitable about high incarceration rates. They are the result of specific policy choices, and those policies can be changed.

There are signs that change may be on the way. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), long a critic of America’s love affair with incarceration, has called the US criminal justice system “a national disgrace” and urged “a major nationwide recalculation of who goes to prison and for how long.” On March 26, he led a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009. The bill would create a blue-ribbon commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system, and make recommendations for changes in policies and laws to “reduce the overall incarceration rate while preserving public safety, cost-effectiveness, and societal fairness.”

Our dysfunctional criminal justice system has been a long time in the making, and no one should have any illusions that it will be fixed overnight. But a National Criminal Justice Commission would be an important first step toward ending our shameful status as the world’s leading prison nation.

via – The Huffington Post “Prison Nation“

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The Swamp: Jim Webb’s fighting political manifesto
In his new book, Virginia Sen. Jim Webb describes an America that lacks a coherent national security strategy while bogged down in a war that should never have been fought.

It is a country, he says, where the economic disparities between rich and poor have reached frightening levels.

And it is a nation, he says, that is waging an ineffective battle against crime by locking up more than 2 million residents– or 25 percent of the world’s reported prisoners.

It also serves as a political manifesto of sorts for Webb, who has been touted as a potential running mate for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in November.

On crime policy, Webb calls for rethinking a strategy focused on incarceration that he says is costly and ineffective.

“Either we are home to the most evil population on earth, or we are locking up a lot of people who really don’t need to be in jail, for actions that other countries seem to handle in more constructive ways,” he wrote.

“The time has come to stop locking up people for mere possession and use of marijuana. It makes far more sense to take the money that would be saved by such a policy and use it for enforcement of gang-related activities.”

Can you imagine?  A president in Barack Obama who says he “inhaled frequently – that was the point” alongside a vice president in Jim Webb who says it’s time to “stop locking up people for mere possession and use of marijuana”!

I try not to get my hopes up.  President Carter said we should decriminalize marijuana back in 1978, but then a cocaine scandal involving one of his staff sunk that initiative.  President Clinton became the first president from the cannabis-friendly baby boom generation, admitted to trying marijuana… and then presided over the rise in annual marijuana arrests from around 300,000 to around 700,000.

Yet this time I feel like we are on the verge of some serious change in federal cannabis policy.  Obama says he will not let the DEA raid medical marijuana states.  In 2004 he said we need to decriminalize marijuana, though he’s backed off of those statements during this campaign.  But during a time when our economy is busted and we’re fighting two wars in the Middle East, I’m hopeful that the lure of tax revenue from cannabis and expenditure reductions in the drug war will overcome the fear of change and the scaremongering about the “demon reefers”.

Then there’s John McCain, who has literally turned his back on medical marijuana patients on the campaign trail.  He talks a lot about reducing the size of government and eliminating wasteful spending.  Typical conservative points, but how come that never applies to the failed War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs?

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