Cannabis and Portugal

Portugal became an example of progressive drug policies to the world in 2001 when it decriminalized all drugs. Decriminalization means that a person will not be imprisoned if he or she is found in possession of small quantities of any drug. A fine may be imposed or the person may be asked to enroll for a drug rehabilitation program. Prior to this change in Portugal's drug laws, the situation in the country was quite similar to most other countries in the world. There was rampant usage of all kinds of drugs, crimes and violence were at high levels and jails were filled with a significant number of drug consumers. Law enforcement spent huge amounts of resources tracking down drug users like criminals and then putting them on trial and in prison. None of the measures in place at that time were sufficient to reduce drug usage
 

The policy change that decriminalized drug usage was a fundamental change in approach. It stopped viewing drug users as criminals, to be tried and imprisoned, and started addressing drug usage as a social and health issue. Emphasis was laid on education and rehabilitation rather than imprisonment. The results of this policy change have been phenomenal with all parameters related to drug usage looking much better. The usage of drugs has come down considerably since the policy change, violent crimes and homelessness associated with drugs has come down, fatalities have come down and the law enforcement resources that were focused on the war on drugs have been diverted to more effective areas addressing violent crime. The success of Portugal made it a case study for all countries looking at the failed war on drugs and new approaches to handle drug usage. Many countries look to adopt Portugal's progressive drug policies. One of the key lawmakers who brought about the changes within Portugal, Antonio Gutteres, is now the head of the UN and he has been trying to take action at a global level to bring about similar progressive changes across the UN.

Portugal however should not sit back and think that this is the end of the road in terms of drug policy changes but just the first step. This is because with decriminalization there are still flaws. Decriminalization still looks at all drugs as equal. So the very dangerous heroin or methamphetamine can draw similar action as the safe natural medicinal recreational plant cannabis whereas highly potent drugs that cause huge numbers of fatalities every year such as alcohol and tobacco are freely available legally. It is often left to the subjective judgement of the persons implementing the law at the time to interpret and take necessary steps regarding the drug consumer. Also fining a person for drug consumption or sending to drug rehabilitation is not likely to stop the dangerous behavior completely. It is likely to make the drug consumer try harder to hide the habit and avoid detection or try other combinations of synthetic drugs that are yet to fall in the ambit of drug prevention.

Recreation is an essential part of human existence. Life without recreation would be life without pleasure hence the culture of recreational drugs among humans from as long back as we can remember. When people are presented with a safe, healthy, affordable and pleasurable natural recreational drug like cannabis, their likelihood of consuming dangerous drugs comes down as they prefer to take the healthy approach when presented with alternatives and information. 

One further step that Portugal must take is to legalize the adult recreational use of cannabis as is being done successfully in other parts of the world today. What this change in drug policy would do is that it would make the safe and medicinal plant cannabis more freely available and affordable to an individual. It would reduce the pressure on the individual to seek out much more lethal drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, pharmaceutical drugs, novel psychotropic substances, synthetic cannabiniods, alcohol and tobacco. Cannabis is a known safe alternative to heroin, opioids and methamphetamine and is being used in many places to wean chronic drug users off these lethal synthetic drugs by prescribing cannabis to them. Cannabis is known to heal brain damage caused by methamphetamine and heroin use.

Many European countries already have significant medical use markets such as Germany, Switzerland and Italy as well as unofficial recreational use markets such as the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and France. Luxembourg has taken steps to become the first European nation to legalize recreational use of cannabis. Norway has pushed for cannabis legalization at the UN earlier this year.

Portugal surely has a flourishing illegal cannabis culture. With its Mediterranean climate and farming culture, if the country legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, it would provide a great boost to agriculture, business,  industry, the economy, medicine, sustainable development, tourism and most importantly the health and well being of the Portuguese people. It is important for Portugal to back recreational cannabis use legalization not just within the country but also worldwide through changing the UN laws. This will enable not just Portugal but all the countries of the world to protect the health of their people and the earth that they live in. Having Antonio Gutteres the former Portuguese leader at the head of the UN may be the right time and opportunity to make this happen. 

In December 2020,  the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most restricted Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It does however still remain in Schedule I, which is the least restrictive. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation and an overhaul of national drug laws. 

 

It must be noted that in most places where cannabis legalization has happened it took the efforts of the people who mobilized themselves through grassroots level movements to bring about this change. Left to lawmakers legalization would have been impossible, as the main interests of lawmakers concern the protection of the big industries opposed to cannabis such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, medical, alcohol and tobacco. For something that truly benefits the people, the people themselves have had to make the change

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.   


'Since Portugal enacted drug decriminalization in 2001, the number of people voluntarily entering treatment has increased significantly, overdose deaths and HIV infections among people who use drugs have plummeted, incarceration for drug-related offenses has decreased, and rates of problematic and adolescent drug use has fallen.'
http://www.drugpolicy.org/press-release/2019/02/dpa-releases-new-briefing-paper-video-drug-decriminalization-portugal


'Portugal on the Atlantic coast has a warm temperate subtropical climate, with mild winters, warm summers and lots of sunny days, which is often compared to that of California and makes it an ideal place for cannabis cultivation.'


'Indeed, Australian policy-makers should look to and learn from other policy settings, notably Portugal, with the similarly broad aim of lessening the burdens on healthcare systems, overcrowded criminal justice institutions and families, while also reducing problematic use. In this way, pill testing serves as a platform for more nuanced discussion of drug policy ideas and applications particularly the need for innovative responses, to avoid the deaths of more young Australians.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5891912/


'The Left Bloc’s version would prohibit the sale of alcohol and edibles at registered cannabis shops, ban the sale of “synthetic” marijuana products and restrict cannabis advertisements. Adults would be allowed to grow up to five plants for personal use. And half of the tax revenue from marijuana sales would go toward developing drug treatment programs, while the remaining half would fund the country’s National Health Service.

PAN’s version would prohibit people from consuming cannabis in the workplace, medical facilities and youth-oriented places like schools and playgrounds. Adults could grow up to six plants for personal use. The bill would also require the government to set the price of marijuana “lower than the average prices charged on the illegal market.” Tax revenue from cannabis sales would fund drug prevention and treatment programs.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/lawmakers-in-portugal-debate-two-marijuana-legalization-bills/


'With globalization and on the age of the internet, ideas and opinions are spread very quickly and can easily travel the entire world (Cabral, 2015). Thus, the question in Portugal is the same as in a group of other western nations, the problem of the so-called soft drugs mainly cannabis. Even if the Portuguese law is one of the most permissive (if not the most) in the world regarding narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in general, we would argue that the same is not entirely the case in the case of cannabis. Mainly because it does not distinguish it at all from other drugs, everything is decriminalized but not legalized.'
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2050324516683640


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